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Remember that teacher who was always harping on you for chewing gum or doodling or drawing up schematics to plan a big bank heist? Well, Lamya Cammon's first-grade teacher takes the cake: She cut Lamya's hair when she wouldn't stop playing with it.Lamya's hair is in braids, and she was running her fingers through her hair and making the beads on the ends of the braids clack together. The sound apparently got on the teacher's nerves, and she asked her to stop, then offered Lamya some candy if she would come up to her desk, at which point she chopped off a few inches of one braid (including the beads) and told her to go back to her desk, sending her fellow students into peals of laughter.
Presently, the teacher is going through her school district's disciplinary process and has been fined $175 by the police for disorderly conduct. Suddenly banging erasers together doesn't seem so bad anymore.
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Thursday 17 December
By stacy
I have read this story on serveral other website, and read comments from readers and thought some people were taking this a little to hard.. For god sakes, the girl has about 30 braids and ONE braid got chopped just a little bit. As a teacher, I understand stress and how students can get under your skin because most of them do not listen when you ask them to stop something (like clanging her beads). I do think she went overboard, and cutting a girls hair is not the best way to do things, but she doens't deserve to be fired. Oh, and for the parents out there that think "o my god, i'd sue!", you are a teachers worst nightmare.
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Sunday 31 January
By ZENCI
Tell you what, Teacher Stacy: I am also a teacher, as well as a parent. When the day comes that anyone, anywhere, any time, touches my kid in any sort of damaging manner, that person is going to be facing a very large lawsuit, as well as criminal charges! It matters not one whit how many braids that child had; what matters is that her teacher took it upon herself to cut one of them off. How dare she do such to anyone? She wouldn't do it to her own kid, I'm sure. She wouldn't do it to an adult; just to a little kid. She does indeed need to be terminated, and find herself a less stressful working environment, where she can handle an annoying sound in a more appropriate manner.
Friday 05 February
By fonz
ok yeah so teachers get frustrated.. thats the job you signed up for honey! if you cant handle it, DONT DO IT. bottom line, what makes you think she shouldnt get fired, if she dosnt then she better get a good punishment, thinking that parents are taking it to far... um hello.. you DONT EVER cut off anyones childs hair for any reason, no matter if its just a few inches, it was enough to get the kid laughed at, and honestly, yes were teachers worst nightmares, sue if you want. the school and the teacher would be s'ing bricks if it were me, and the teacher would get her butt kicked. what makes you think its ok to say "hey im irritated by this child playing with her hair. im going to make her come up for candy and cut it " teachers, think twice about what you do, us parents DONT mess around. i work at a childrens hospital.. screaming, yelling, crying, broken, sick children from new born to adolecent. some obnoctious and most not feelign well, would i ever say "hey shut up stop crying", or hit there arm thats injured cause i was "irritated" no. dont play that card with us.
Friday 05 February
By Sheila
If she can't handle the stress, then she shouldn't be in a profession where the stress level is so high. I'm sorry, but ANYONE who thinks chopping off a child's hair in front of her peers, KNOWING that they will laugh at her, is an OK way to do things should not be working with children. She should be terminated, she obviously can't control herself, and yes, this one incident DOES prove that she can't control herself. If I did this to one of my coworkers, I'd be fired, doing it to a child, to someone who you are an authority figure and role model to, makes it twice as bad.
Friday 18 December
By Dick Trickle
I probably woulda shaved her head, and the rest of the class.
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Saturday 26 December
By leanan
yeah....no. I'm a teacher- and you just can't do that. Little girls play with their hair- it's just going to happen. If that instructor really couldn't take it, a better approach would have been to call the parents and ask if they could give the child a different hair-cut...not to violate the girl's sense of self and personal space in front of the class.
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Sunday 31 January
By dlp
Dear fellow teachers, and other incidental readers,
Are you friggin kidding me?
I teach 2nd and had exactly the same scenario 2 weeks ago. Frustrating? Absolutely.
Children are frustrating by nature; you take that as a given.
I told my student (privately) that if she she didn't leave her hair alone, I would have to call her mom and discuss what other hairstyles would be more conducive to her and her classmates' being able to focus in class. It stopped.
Your next resort is the office. Hopefully, they are supportive of their teachers (ours is) and are willing to handle disruptions in order to preserve the learning environment for the other students. Let THEM call mom.
I also recommend having at least one good buddy in your grade level that you can share the burden with. You don't have to give names (and better not... confidentiality...) but bend their ear and let them bend yours to blow off steam. Take a time out yourself! Go to your buddy and say, "Can you switch with me for 5? I need a quick sanity break!" If your school doesn't have this kind of climate in the faculty, you need it. Develop it.
If I continued to get no support, I would begin to (without using the child) introduce mini lessons on consideration for others. Its amazing what kids will take home and bring up to their parents at dinner...perhaps if Suzie happens to say how Mrs. P is always telling us to be considerate, but this one little girl is always bothering us with her hair.... her parents may inquire with the teacher, who will then say she has done all she can, and so they inquire with the administration. This may light a fire under them. Who knows. I feel very fortunate to have a very supportive admin, but I have heard horror storys of those who don't....
Even if mom (and by mom, of course, I am referring to any and all custodians, guardians, and parents, not just moms) and the office do not support you, and you have to spend 180 days listening to her play her windchimes to the detriment of the rest of your class, don't let it cause you to snap and flush your career. Quit in the middle of the year if you have to. What this teacher did amounts to assault, and I will be very surprised if she is not sued. She might have been arrested and taken out in cuffs.
Teaching is not an easy job. It is not for the feint of heart or the thin-skinned. If you're in the ranks and feeling too burnt out, get out gracefully, while you can!
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Monday 01 February
By stacy
teacher zenci, you must not have read my entire comment, because i agree, i dont think it was necessary or appropriate..why don't you calm down.
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Wednesday 10 February
By wickedgirl722
Sounds like they got the right of it to me..I read your full comment and that was exactly my take on it to. If people are taking a different meaning than what was meant, well... your a Teacher and I would hope you'd know how to be a little more articulate.
Thursday 04 February
By Carisa
Perhaps the teachers commenting on this article should spend less time criticizing rightfully concerned parents and bemoaning behavior that is pretty standard for young children, and more time teaching themselves proper grammar and spelling skills. Your comments are full of very basic errors and it is appalling to me that anyone deems you qualified to teach young children. Maybe you are finding parents to be "nightmares" because they are holding you accountable for actually doing your jobs, instead of hanging out in the faculty lounge whining about your students.
I do not have children yet, but I remember well, from my own days in school, how condescending and demeaning many teachers could sometimes be. I look forward to being a teacher's worst nightmare, as that teachers will be treating my children with dignity and respect, even if they are are bending the ear of their "buddy" with bitter complaints about them after class.
You ladies need to do whatever it takes to get a real education so so that you can actually function competently in the classroom. You are cheating your students out of a proper education and that should be your first area of concern before you worry about criticizing the people you work for.
I guess it's true that those who can can, do, and those who can't, teach (and not very well).
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Thursday 04 February
By UH huh
I love when people without children, comment about children..." I take care of my niece!"..." I was a babysitter!"...Uh Huh...Until u actually have kids, you should probably keep u're opinions to u're self.
I love teachers, under paid and under appreciated.
Please note, I do not agree(at all) with what the teacher did...but ignorance gives me hives
Friday 05 February
By Lauri Gadowry
While you are insisting the teachers treat YOUR child with "dignity and respect" (which I agree with) will you also be teaching YOUR child to treat their teacher with "dignity and respect"?
Friday 05 February
By Amanda
Wow Carisa, WOW!!! Get off of your high horse! Unless you've walked a mile in a teacher's shoes, please do not criticize. Do you never complain about your job at the end of a hard day? We all need to vent, it's healthy. What this teacher did to this girl is horribly innappropriate and cruel, and she should absolutely be fired. However, why would you start verbally vomitting such ignorant generalizations about our countries educators? You could have the patience of a saint, but eventually something WILL annoy you. Instead of getting upset in front of a classroom filled with children I think the responsible choice would be to switch with another teacher, if this option is available to them. And FYI, parents can absolutely be a nightmare for a teacher or school. A child fell in my class and bumped his head on a toy chest. We treated him immediately and the director of the school called home to inform the mother of what happened. She became irate and wants to sue the school. This, in my opinion, is a very disheartening reaction, which has become far too common in today's sue happy society. I don't expect to change your opinions of teachers, as you seem like a very disgruntled, miserable person...just thought I would "educate" you on life a bit.
Thursday 04 February
By Rebecca
No teacher should touch a child. It opens up too many questions. Often a loving hug or a pat on the back for a job well done can be interpret as inappropriate. A 1st grade little girl will play with her hair. It is a normal. Best approach was to call home and explain the distraction. Remind the student. Take away a recess. But, cutting the child's hair was a clear violation to the child physically and emotionally. Anyone who cuts a child's hair as a punishment should not be teaching. It is as simple as that.
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Thursday 04 February
By Carisa
Pardon my lack of proofreading, as I'm in a rush to get back to my own work. If nothing else, go ahead and take it as an indication of how much better my education could have been if my teachers were actually qualified.
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Friday 05 February
By Sarah
You remember from your own days of school, huh? And when was that, last week? :) Listen sweetheart grow up, have real life experiences, then critisize once you are actually in a proper place to. As far as I'm concerned you have no children (making this story irrelevant to you) and you are not a teacher or administrator (also making this irrelevant to you) so you have no idea what you are really talking about! Don't get me wrong, if this teacher did this to MY daughter I'd probably be in jail for kicken that womans butt! Just remember in the future when you finally have kids if you piss off their teacher dont excpect him/her to give your child extra attention they may need to make it to the next grade! Hope this helps the quality of your life in the future.... you may be too young to understand it now but what you have said is complete nonsence. I hope someday you are a great mother with enough respect for your children and their educational career to work WITH the teachers, not against them. It will only hurt your children. The teacher gets new children and parents every year. You however keep your children for life.... wether they are successful or not, wether they are respectful or not, wether they are obidient or not. Please for the sake of your future children change your attitude about school, education, and educators. These people spend 5+ years and $30,000+ just to be able to teach your children, don't disrespect them.
Friday 05 February
By fonz
sorry stacy if i made it sound directly at YOU but your comment above really read like you were just ok whith what that lady did and stating parents take it to far. just wanted to clarify i wasnt trying to go at you at all on a personal level. if it seemd like it. and yeah i rememebr how some teachers were to some studetns in calss through jr high and highs school they way some of them talk to kids in class houdl be caugt on tape.
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Friday 05 February
By wolfman
It is to bad the burned out teacher lost her job for doing something stupid. She should have just brought the kid up in front of the class and told her to play chop sticks on her braided hair since she injoys playing with it so much then the whole class could see how talented she was. Let the kids have a good laugh at her expence then tell her not to do it again or she will stand in a corner with a stupid pointy hat on her head and unless she is the class clown I believe that would be the end of it, if not send her to the principle for disturbing the class, nuff said!
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Tuesday 12 April
By Henning
A lot of people want to see this teacher fired. You have forgotten the Teachers Union. They won't let her get fired. This is one of the problems with education today, you can't fire bad teachers anymore. Employment should be merit based, not on tenure. This is one of the reasons why some are trying to bust the union.
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Tuesday 12 April
By oh1sparky
well when I was in grade school 65 years ago- I was spanked for not eating carrot salad-accused of tripping a teacher while at arms length in front of her-(she slipped on ice in hall)- had a teacher slam my head against the floor in the coat room for fighting with a fellow student.(her punishment-I kicked her under the chin and straightened her up like a pole. WELL no disciplinary action against these teachers. That is the way it was back then. We had good sue material --asualt and battery-- OH HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED-- I would sue her also -she should have handled it differently.
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