Teacher in hot water for cutting boy’s hair
A teacher in Ottawa has been sent home after he cut a 7-year-old student’s hair in school without permission from the mother.
In a 17-minute video posted on Facebook on Feb. 28, Miriam Richard details how the teacher at Regina Public School, in the city’s west end, cut her son Dominic’s hair.
“I feel like my son’s rights have been taken from him,” Richard said in the video. “He’s been asking for long hair, he didn’t want his hair cut and I feel like his rights as a person were taken from him.”
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board released a statement to CBC saying the haircut was “an unusual practice,” placing the teacher on “home assignment.”
“We extend our apologies to the student and his family. The district continues to work with the family to ensure the best learning environment for the student,” the school board said.
The Star’s attempts to reach Richard were unsuccessful. In the video, she shows her son’s shoulder-length hair, now cut to his earlobes.
“It’s a bunch of short pieces,” said Richard, who also goes by Miriam Brandon. “It’s not even a good haircut . . . It’s jagged.”
She said the teacher called to say that he had cut Dominic’s hair and that he was sorry. She said the teacher told her the boy was chewing on his hair, so he cut it.
Dominic has developed a bit of anxiety lately, Richard explained in the video about her son chewing on his hair.
“It’s not wrong for him to chew on his hair,” she said. “He was not hurting anybody. He’s not bothering anybody . . . ”
The teacher has been asking to cut Dominic’s hair for the past few months, she said. She said she asked her son if he wanted his hair cut, but that he insisted that he wants to have long hair, dye it blue, wear makeup and be a girl.
Although Dominic likes the school and his friends, Richard said she will be moving her son from the school.
“It’s not about me,” she said. “It’s about my son.”