Minneapolis parents are steaming mad after learning that their son’s teacher cut his short Afro without first getting their permission.
The 12-year-old boy’s mothers, Daetney and Tadow McReynolds, told CBS their son was originally happy with how his hair was growing.
“It was actually growing pretty well, actually he was thinking about all kind of styles he wanted to do with it,” said Daetney McReynolds said.
However, one day the son came home and broke the news about what happened to his burgeoning Afro.
“And he said, ‘Are you guys going to be mad?’ We were like, ‘For what?’ He pulls his hat off and goes, ‘My teacher and me cut my hair,’ ” Tadow McReynolds told the television station.
When the young son pulled off his cap, this is what the parents saw:
Minnesota Teacher Cuts Black Boy’s Hair Without Parents Permission [Video]
WATCH HERE: https://t.co/F16iIyHzOD pic.twitter.com/dQibGJDRYH
— Jeff (@JeffFromHarlem) April 20, 2022
According to the station, the tween was unhappy with the way his hair was lined up. Therefore, the boy began to cut his own hair first before putting his head down on the table. That is when the teacher came over and let the boy know that it could be fixed.
“ ‘I was just really angry, I didn’t like my line-in and I was just mad and I just started cutting,’ ” Tadow McReynolds said, recapping what their son told her and her wife. “ ‘And then my head was down and the teacher come over and said, ‘Let me fix it for you.’ ”
The McReynolds are angry and feel disrespected because the instructor made no attempt to alert them to their son’s dismay, and also because the teacher did not include them in trying to come up with a solution.
“What made her think that this is OK? if you were going to help my child why wouldn’t you do it the proper way, common sense way, the helpful way? By getting him some real help?” Tadow McReynolds asked.
“Why didn’t we get a phone call and email, a text?” she asked rhetorically.
News of the impromptu, in-class haircut drew the ire of the surrounding community.
KMOJ Radio host William Baker said the teacher’s decision to cut the boy’s hair “just demoralized him, just took his pride away,” Baker said. “And now his hair is being put in a situation where people are dictating how he should look.”
Neither the school nor the boy have been identified. But CBS reported that the child was able to get a free cut by Barber Big Lew and has enrolled at a new school.
Watch the report below:
