A Cut Below the Rest? Bad Teacher Cut Braids Off Student
A Milwaukee schoolteacher was charged with disorderly conduct for cutting the braid of a student off in the middle of her class.
ABC WISN reports that the teacher admitted to cutting off seven year old Lamya Cammon's braid in front of her first grade class after the girl kept playing with her braids even after the teacher told her not to. The bad teacher even threatened the seven year old; saying she would cut braids off again if she did not stop playing with them.
According to an interview by Essence given by the girl's mother Ms. Helen Cunningham, the teacher was annoyed when the Lamya Cammon kept playing with her beaded hair. She threatened the girl to stop playing with her hair or she would miss recess. When Lamya did not stop, she missed recess. However, it was when she kept playing with the hair after recess that things went from bad to worse.
Ms. Cunningham claims that the teacher asked her daughter to come to her desk and promised to give her daughter candy. Instead, the teacher took her scissors and cut off one of her daughter's braids.
Ms. Cunningham told Essence: "I went to the teacher's room in person. She admitted that she was frustrated that my daughter would not stop twirling her hair. She also told me that she held her from recess because she kept playing with her hair. And then, she said, 'She kept doing it so I cut her hair.'"
In an interview with ABC WISN the girl said that after the teacher cut her hair, all of her classmates laughed at her: "I went to my desk and cried. And they was laughing."
As a result of the incident, Lamya Cammon has been moved from the teacher's class, but the teacher continues to teach her class while the Milwaukee Public Schools District said it is going through the disciplinary process with her. She was fined $175 for disorderly conduct, but was not fired or disciplined yet by the school district.
What is Disorderly Conduct?
Disorderly conduct is any type of behavior that is disruptive, but not dangerous. Many types of obnoxious or unruly conduct may fit the definition of disorderly conduct, as such statutes are often used as "catch-all" crimes.
Police may use a disorderly conduct charge to keep the peace when a person is behaving in a disruptive manner, but presents no serious public danger.
What Happens Now?
The Milwaukee police have referred the case to the DA for physical abuse and mental abuse of a child.
Related Resources:
- School Punishment with Duct Tape Alleged in Denver (Findlaw's Law and Daily Life)
- Child Abuse (Findlaw)
- Connecticut Teacher Anne O'Donnell Charged After Forcing Child to Eat Garbage: How Far Can Teachers Go With Classroom Discipline? (Findlaw's Common Law)