Imagine your kid finds a cute photo in a magazine and wants to look like the little girl pictured. Now imagine you're lucky enough to be one of those crafty moms who can make it happen (mazel tov ... goodness knows I'm not one of them!). What do you expect when you send your kid to school? A teacher to take pictures of her and turn her into the butt of jokes on Facebook? The rest of the world to tell you you're a bad mom?
That's what happened to a little girl in Chicago. The 7-year-old wanted to wear Jolly Rancher candies at the end of her braids -- where most girls wear little barrettes. So Lucinda Williams, a hairstylist, did what a good mom does. She put them into her daughter's hair and sent her off to school, feeling as proud as ... well, as proud as a 7-year-old who thinks she looks really cool can be.
But when a computer teacher took photos of little Ukailya Lofton's head, the little girl didn't know she'd be posting them on Facebook and opening the comments up to her friends to make fun of the little kid. The unidentified teacher got caught thanks to a parent who was "friends" with her on Facebook. She took a screenshot of the picture and comments and passed them along to Williams.
Can you say big ol' case of adults being @ssholes to a little kid? Not to make mountains out of molehills here, but a teacher posting a kid's picture on Facebook isn't such a big deal. People sitting there making fun of a 7-year-old's hairstyle is.
Because it hasn't stopped there. Instead of sounding off on what a jerk this teacher and her friends were, people have been adding to the commentary in news comments, calling Lucinda everything but a nice person for humoring her child.
But here's what I know about kids around that age. They do goofy things. My 5-year-old has worn Minnie Mouse ears to school. She's decided two weird ponytails sprouting out of the sides of her head were the height of fashion. She's come off the bus with one pant leg rolled halfway up and one down -- when I know she left the house with two cuffs around her ankles.
Why do I let it happen? Because she's just a kid. I delight in having two teenage babysitters who are still pretty proud to let their child-side out. They're not embarrassed to wear Beauty and the Beast socks to school (with sandals so EVERYONE can see them) or make bizarre faces as their photos are snapped for their student IDs. I want her to retain that child-like heart -- the longer, the better.
I'm on the mom's side here, how about you?
Image via Jo Naylor/Flickr