Monday Chicago parent, Tionna Norris, shared on Facebook the following note from her daughter Amia’s teacher, asking her to stop using as much coconut oil in her daughter’s hair.
“I understand the necessary of coconut oil on Amia’s hair, but please do not use as much. The children were complaining that her hair “stinks.” If you have to apply this daily — please do so lightly, so the kids don’t tease her. Thank you for understanding.”
Norris posted an image of the letter side-by-side with image daughter’s hairstyle. And her caption for the photo confirmed that she had no intention of taking the teacher’s advice. “*applies the same amount of coconut oil* y’all gone feel that black girl magic. Sincerely, unapologetically black mom. P.s. Coconut oil has no stinky smell.”
I think it’s very considerate that the teacher does not want Amia to be teased. Unfortunately that was not the case. Tionna Norris being a concerned parent met with Raggedy Anne Learning Center’s director.
See Also: 11 Ways to Use Coconut Oil
Norris says her child is the only black student her class at the Raggedy Anne Learning Center, which adds another layer to the issue. “This is why I make it a point to keep her hair natural and tell her yes she’s different and it’s magical,” she wrote on Facebook.
According to Yahoo Beauty, the photo has been shared more than 3,000 times on Facebook, has a few people wondering why Norris and her daughter should make any changes to what they’re doing, when the teacher should instead be telling kids not to bully others. “Why is the ill manner of another child your responsibility? It’s absurd,” one commenter said. “I hope the teacher wrote the other kids parents about being bullied since she’s so damn concerned,” another echoed. Others pointed out the fact that coconut oil in general doesn’t have that strong a scent.
Norris wrote that she and her fiancé went for a sit-down with the school’s director to talk about the issue. They apparently learned that her daughter wasn’t getting bullied for her hair in the first place. “In the conversation she explained the letter was never supposed to be offensive in any way shape or form, no one ever said anything to my daughter, and Amia’s teacher is just a complainer (she’s Russian). We had an adult conversation, and my daughter has many friends, so no I will not be removing her from the school. The teacher is also being disciplined,” she wrote in an update to Facebook.
When I opened the letter From Amia’s school, I was extremely offended and hurt for my child. To assume that the coconut oil came from her hair just because she is a natural child is ridiculous. In all honestly coconut oil was not used on the style and that’s why I was so mad because it was stereotypical to assume the natural girl in the class applied too much oil to her hair.
How the letter is presented it seems as though she was being teased and that hurt me because she’s just a baby and I deserve to know something like to my face. You can’t tell a mother “your child being teased fix it” hell no!! I need to know which kid so I can address their mother as well as what you did to rectify the situation.
I instantly went to her defense and mommy mode because THATS MY JOB.
After meeting with the director I found out that no child ever bullied Amia (she’s actually quite popular) and the word “stink” was used in quotes because she knew it didn’t have a foul odor. It was just something the teacher was not used to and thought it was heavy (she has a sensitive nose so she says) they have fully taken responsibility and understands why it’s so offensive.
They also would like to apologize to anyone the letter may have offended. Amia is happy and reassured me no one ever bullied her. We now have an understanding where if anything is an issue I will be notified in person and not through a letter which is up for assumption.
Do I still believe the teacher didn’t have ill intentions? Not for a second because the way she tried to talk to me about how she thought my daughter smelled (which she is the only person who felt that way) was absolutely and totally unacceptable but Amia is deftly my child her clap back will always be REAL!
Thank you all for the concern and the kind words on my baby girl we truly appreciate it but the situation has been handled and I’m glad it was QUICK AND GENUINE.
Tell me in the comments below
How Would You Respond in this Situation?
She shoukd hv been fired.i would be worried about the teacher being around my child after that
Honestly, when I first saw this I thought it was going to be a warning against using coconut oil because of the possibility of causing allergic reactions among some of the students.
This is far worse. I would be upset if I got a letter from my son’s teacher about his hair “smelling” from the assumption of using “too much coconut oil” (As if there is a such thing because coconut oil is awesome!) Especially, when I do so much to keep his hair clean and detangled. It would also cause me to think about how he might be treated by his teacher throughout the day. If she’s willing to knit-pick about his hair, she just might be willing to knit-pick with him about any and everything else.
Never target kids.
I hate artificial/essentialized coconut smell. Almost as bad as that Bath & Body Works body lotion.