Student Sues After Forced Haircut
Categories: Kids 8-11, In The News, Education
From the Angry Teachers Drunk With Power files, we bring you the story of a boy, his rather long bangs and a pair of scissors.According to 11-year-old Alexander Allen Brown, his teacher at Hidden Valley Middle School in Roanoke, Virginia had a problem with his haircut. Or, rather, his lack of haircut. Alexander says that one day last September, his teacher stopped him in the hall, pinned him to his locker, and "growled" about his hair.
Alexander's mother, Dominique Brown, says that at first her son wasn't bothered by the incident. "However, it grew within him and made him enormously self-conscious and was disturbing him emotionally," she said in a lawsuit filed against the Roanoke County School Board. Apparently, the teacher couldn't let it go, either. According to the suit, the very next day the teacher brought Alexander up to the front of the class and, despite his protests and struggles, forcibly cut his bangs "in such a manner that she utterly and completely butchered his hair and his appearance."
Since the forced haircut, Alexander's mom says her son's grades have suffered as he has become depressed and withdrawn. In suing the school board, the family is seeking $1,000 in compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages. "You know how kids are at 11 years old. There are two things in his life: his hair and the shoes he's got on," said the family's attorney, Harvey Lutins.
"We're talking about individual rights," Lutins said. "I don't want my kids touched that way. It's an invasion of privacy. It's an assault. It's a civil assault upon that child." I absolutely agree and if this teacher did was she is accused of doing, she deserves to lose her job.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Wil 12-01-2008 @ 11:55AM
I AGREE WITH THE SUIT. A TEACHER HAS NO RIGHT TO DEMORALIZE STUDENTS --- EVER! IF THE TEACHER HAS AN EXTREEM PROBLEM WITH THE STUDENT, TAKE IT UP WITH THE PARENTS AND THE PRINCIPAL. NO MISTAKE WAS MADE, NO ACCIDENT OCCURED. IT WAS A WILLFUL VIOLATION AGAINST A STUDENT BY A TEACHER WITH A PERSONAL AX TO GRIND.
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JULIE 1-29-2009 @ 4:45PM
i know it can be bad i meen im a girl and that has happend to me. When i was in middle school i had very long hair and at the end of one of my classes my teacher said she needed to see me and i didnt know why. When i got up there she grabed me by the hair and chopped it farther than my shoulders it wasnt a very fun day.
yasmingamal 12-01-2008 @ 1:47PM
I agree with the suit, the teacher should have contacted a parent or the school principal. I don't think a student's hair is a teacher's business anyway. Maybe the student could get to shave the teacher's hair :-).
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SKL 12-01-2008 @ 1:56PM
OK . . . $50,000?
It's hair; it'll grow back. Yeah, the teacher was wrong, and who among us hasn't had to deal with an asshole teacher? It's character building. She needs discipline and maybe therapy (preferably not on the taxpayer's dime). Boy needs to find a barber for the future.
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queenoqueens 12-01-2008 @ 2:03PM
Yeah, I don't like the idea of having to fork over so much money for this incident, even though the teacher is clearly stupid and bonkers and has obviously done some irreperable damage to the child. Lord knows many of us have suffered indignities and have not been paid a cent for it. Although I have never been assulted in this way, and I think this is assault. I think the proper punishment would be to have the teachers bangs trimmed by her students on a regular basis for the rest of her life. Alas, this cannot be enforced.
SKL, what do you think would be a proper punishment for this teacher? If someone forcibly held you down and trimmed your bangs against your will, what would you ask be done, if anything?
SKL 12-01-2008 @ 3:28PM
Queenoqueens, first of all I'd require her to give a very public apology or resign. Then I'd force her to take a class in appropriate touching of middle school students, on her own time and on her own dime, or resign. She should be forced to undergo psychological testing to determine if she is fit to continue teaching. And I think she should have to pay for the boy to have a year's worth of haircuts at a nice local place. All that in addition to whatever else they do to teachers who use inappropriate discipline.
I don't believe humiliation by a teacher is worth a bunch of money. If that incident was enough to destroy this boy emotionally, he had problems going in. I used to have a teacher who, after watering his plants, would pour water down certain boys' pants if their waists were sticking out in the back. It was perverted and humiliating and wrong, but I am sure none of his students is still in therapy over it. The parents should be helping this child to realize that the teacher, not he, has a problem, so he needs to get his hair re-done and get over it. (Lord knows it can't look worse than some of the things kids intentionally do to their own hair at that age.)
Through most of history, kids who went through these types of moments would later scoff behind the teachers' back and look that much tougher in front of their friends. Now, if some of what I read here is to be taken seriously, we're raising a bunch of marshmallows. What are they going to do the first time their boss questions their report in a meeting? Sue him?
Michele W 12-01-2008 @ 3:11PM
Ok, yea I think it is a lot of money but you know kids at that age are so very emotional and what to us might seem like," hey it's hair it will grow back." to the kid though his whole life was turned upside down and embarrassed in front of the school. Everyone watched while this teacher did this and made sure he embarrassed the child good. I believe they should have to pay and maybe these teachers will learn that they are not God and they can not do what ever they want. This is why my son was pulled out of school and is now homeschooled. Teachers make too many wrong choices these days. My son and two other kids were left in the bathroom in kindergarten and then came out and everyone was gone. The teacher took the kids outside but did not notice that she was missing 3 kids. The kids wondered around the school looking for them and thankfully found them and didnt decide to try and walk home or go some where they shouldnt of. Schools need to learn a lesson.
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bob 12-03-2008 @ 4:43PM
your or absolutley right my school is th same like the teachers think they have more power than anyone if you think this is bad if kids get into a fight at my school and a teacher has to have a fist come past him the teacher gets to use self defense on the student..................... worse is that if a student came up to a student and punched him the student who was punched can not use self defense or they will get suspended
Melissa 12-01-2008 @ 3:22PM
Fire her and let the boy shave her head, stupid bi-otch....I used to be a pre-K teacher, and we had a little boy who had LONG hair, his bangs used to hang in his face, and he couldn't see! My co-teacher pinned his bangs back with a bobby pin one day, and OMG, the mom had a fit! I'm surprised she didn't sue us lol!!
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Nicola 12-05-2008 @ 5:16PM
Totally off topic, but that's like a kid in my son's class with SUPER long wavy out of control hair. His parents both have knee-length dreads, but I guess that he's too young for that style yet. So they just don't brush the poor kid's hair and it is always covering his face like Cousin It. So the teachers have started using barrettes to keep it back during the day. He's so cute out on the playground running around in his ultra boy clothes with this super long hair and pretty girl barrettes. My son thought that he was a girl for the longest time...
Jenni 12-01-2008 @ 4:00PM
I'm not saying what the teacher did was right, but $50,000! Seriously? When I was 10 my mom thought it would be great to give me a particular hair style and I HATED IT! Should I sue her for emotional distress in having to deal with that at such a young tender age?
There should be a consequence for the teacher, but money isn't going to make the hair grow back; which it will grow back.
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Kerri 12-01-2008 @ 6:36PM
I totally agree with SKL and Jenni.
The teacher cutting the student's hair was wrong. No question about it. But, it's so sad that we have become such a sue-happy nation that the parents feel they need 50K for their son to feel better. That money won't make his hair grow back, nor will it make his emotionally-unstableness magically go away.
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c_rousseau05 12-01-2008 @ 8:14PM
I agree the teacher should probably lose their job over this and be sentenced to anger management classes or something, but to sue the school board for $1k (ok this much is fine) and then another $50k?! Sue the teacher! Not the school board!
1. It's just hair, boys have had worse haircuts given by their own mothers that have had to be "saved" by a last minute trip to the barber shop. It grows back, get over it. A lot of us have been there as the mom or as the one who got the bad haircut.
2. Within ONE DAY this kid supposedly became "enormously self-conscious" and "disturbed emotionally". Yeah right, give me a break. Sounds like mom and dad (in order to claim $50k worth of "damage" need to lay it on thick and probably told their son he feels that way, or were told by their lawyers that their son feels that way). He was probably embarrassed more than anything and is angry at the teacher for doing this. Embarrassed and Angry, probably enough to not want to go to school for a while, but something that he will heal from, both inwardly and outwardly.
3. We are a sue-happy society, I agree on this with the other posters who brought it up, it's really sad. This is a time of economic regression and people are trying to milk the SCHOOL SYSTEM (who helps our children and desperately needs money) for $51k worth of money that thousands of children will now be out of....for what? So some idiot, obviously selfish parents can take this money to do what with? I mean seriously, what do you do with $51k? I hope they spend it on his college IF they win...but really, I hope they don't win, this is so stupid.
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pbhj 12-02-2008 @ 6:55AM
Your point 2 struck me as well. Glad to see not everyone is a complete reactionary and that some people care to read the link articles.
If your kid came home and said their teacher "pinned" them against a locker wouldn't you be taking them in to school the next day to find out what was happening?
Presumably the teacher merely stopped them in the corridor and said "get a haircut, or tie your hair back, for tomorrow or I'll cut it for you", and then followed through. Not commendable. But not really what I term assault.
In summary - sod the haircut aren't they claiming the kid was physically assaulted in the hall?
Would be interesting to hear from one or two of the classmates about what happened. I'm pretty sure you can't forcible cut an 11 year olds hair by yourself without cutting them a lot.
ninainindia 12-01-2008 @ 10:24PM
I completely agree with Jenni and SKL. These parents are just seeing an chance to make money. It's sick how some peope will jump at the chance to sue.
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The Mommy Blawger 12-02-2008 @ 3:53AM
Sorry, but that's assault & battery. It doesn't matter whether hair grows or not; it's legally the same as if she had hit him.
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Heather 12-07-2008 @ 6:26PM
I think criminal charges should be laid. If you were to attack someone on the street and cut thier hair you could be charged so why isn't the teacher charged?
She should be fired and I agree witht he psych tests. I think all teachers should have them because there are some real bad teachers out there.
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Lisa 12-02-2008 @ 3:12PM
The big thing here for me is that the teacher did this to the child in front of his entire class. Children at this age are merciless to eachother, and it doesnt get any better heading towards the end of school. Throughout this kid's school years, this will be remembered, and he *will* be teased about it, there is no doubting that, and anyone who says different hasn't been around today's kids in school. He was humiliated and assaulted - how many of you would like it if your boss at worked dragged you in front of everyone you worked with, and then butchered your hair? Sure, its hair, it will grow back, you say. But what about his pride? I think a 50K lawsuit is spot on. And I do think that it should be directed towards both teacher and school board - the teacher for doing it, and the school board for hiring someone with such a horrible disposition to work with children.
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msjeanniehughes 12-02-2008 @ 8:25PM
No it will not be the end of the world for this boy something else will happen and this will be old news brought up every now and again maybe for a laugh. If I were this boys mother i would request disciplinary action against the teacher because she should know better but i would tell my son that these things happen life is full of embarrassments and the best way to handle them is to laugh along. After all he is a boy he can get his head shaved and still look cool and yes it will grow back. Children should be taught how to handle things like fear, disappointments, embarrassments, and the like becaus elife is full of them. We are not helpong our children out if we respond this way thinking that they need us to shelter them. They will respond according to our responses and we can make them able to handle all kinds of things if they see us handle them well.
cinabonspice 12-02-2008 @ 8:14PM
The teacher had no right. My Boyfriend has long hair because he is Samoan. For him it is cultural. If my child went to school and the very word of a teacher saying he needed to cut his hair i would be in that office with the principal and if she said one more thing about my sons hair I would sue her personally and the school for harassment. as far as the money why the hell not. everybody else gets away with getting money why not go a long with it. If someone can sue McDonald's for serving hot coffee and it fell on the persons lap and they sued because it was hot. Screw it;
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