A teacher took a photo of one of her seven-year-old pupils so she could post it on her Facebook page for her friends to mock the girl’s hairstyle.
Ukailya Lofton, a student at Overton Elementary School in Chicago, turned up for her school photo on picture day with Jolly Rancher candies tied to her braids after she had seen the style in a magazine.
Her computer teacher asked her to pose for a photo with her braids hanging round her face and told her: ‘My husband is not going to believe this.
That night she posted the cell-phone pictures on her Facebook page with the message: ‘Right! This is for picture day.’
Another parent whose child is the teacher’s friend on Facebook let Ukailya’s mother Lucinda Williams know that the girl’s photo was on the teacher’s page and people were mocking the hairstyle.
She also saved both the photos and the comments onto a CD.
Ms Williams, who is a hairdresser, said her daughter begged her to give her the braids hairstyle as she loves to dress up.
She attached the candies with elastic bands and said she her daughter was really excited to go into school and show them off.
Most of her daughter’s teachers complimented her hair at school, so Ukailya didn’t think much of a teacher’s request to take pictures of the hairdo, Ms Williams said.
The comments that appeared on the teacher’s Facebook page said things like: ‘I laughed so hard my contact popped out’, ‘yeah this is foolishness’ and ‘If you are going to make your child look ridiculous the least you could do is make them matching.’
When a furious Ms Williams notified the school, the teacher removed the photo and apologised but Ukailya’s mother is demanding she apologise directly to her daughter.
She told the Chicago Tribune: ‘What bothers me is that she still hasn’t apologized to my baby. No child should have to go to school to be bullied by their teacher.
‘She wasn’t even suspended, and an apology is not enough.’
Ukailya said: ‘My mama told me she put it on Facebook and then I felt sad.’
Chicago Public Schools said the teacher showed poor judgement posting photos of the student but said she was otherwise a good teacher.
They are now investigating to see if any policies were violated and if it will warrant any disciplinary action.
Ms Williams said her lawyer is preparing a lawsuit against CPS and they are planning a news conference on Friday.
