A Georgia mother is outraged after her daughter’s teacher took out her locs without permission, WSAZ reports.
Micaela Varlack, from Columbus, Georgia, claimed four-year-old Londyn, who attends pre-kindergarten at Childcare Network in Columbus, was left with painful inflammation following the bizarre incident.
Varlack began Londyn’s locs journey last month. The mom noted that she spent $150 on her daughter’s hair appointment.
“I went and got her hair washed…,” Varlack explained. “…It was detangled, conditioned, the locs were started and blow dried.”
“The mother spent money on this service, and she crossed the line”
Varlack said she was surprised to see Londyn walking out of school with a different hairstyle just weeks later.
“Monday, on May the 6, I go to pick her up from the day care,” she recalled. “There’s a little child who looks like my child with her hair braided.”
The mom said she later found out that Londyn’s teacher had combed out her locs and rebraided her hair without permission.
“Why would you comb 32 locs out of a child’s hair, to sit down and braid them, part them…,” Varlack said. “…You didn’t call me, and her literal response was, ‘I just didn’t.’”
Victoria Sunmola, who specializes in styling locs believes the teacher “went overboard.”
“It’s very disrespectful because she did not have the parent’s permission to do it,” Sunmola said. “The mother spent money on this service, and she crossed the line…more than anything it wasn’t her place.”
Varlack also said she had to take her daughter to Urgent Care for possible scalp irritation. Sunmola said removing locs and tight braids could be some potential reasons.
“So here we are and now there is inflammation in the baby’s head,” Sunmola said. “All of this could have been avoided if she had consulted the parent.”
In a statement to WTVM, Childcare Network’s corporate office wrote: ‘On Monday, May 6, a currently enrolled child asked a teacher to braid her hair.
‘After speaking with her mother at pick-up, our staff immediately offered to reimburse the family.
‘”lease know that the physical and mental well-being of the children and families we care for is of utmost importance to us, and we are sorry that this was upsetting to the family as it was not our intent.’