The 7-year-old boy claims that bullies cut his hair while their teacher was busy on her laptop. Now, the boy’s parents said that they want justice for their son and called for the school to take action. The incident has psychologically impacted the boy, who has not smiled once since losing his hair, his parents said. The family claims that the elementary school failed to notify them about the incident until this past weekend, when students and staff were already dismissed for Spring Break.
The Native American boy from Oklahoma, Andreas Garcia, came home from Del City Elementary last week without his usual and traditional long hair, per reports.
Unfortunately, the boy told his parents that the back of his hair had been chopped close to his scalp.
The 7-year-old boy reportedly told KOCO: “After I was done doing my homework, they started cutting my hair. The teacher wasn’t looking. She was just on her laptop.”
Jamal Garcia, the boy’s father, said: “How do you not notice two kids standing over someone and getting their haircut?”
Now, the boy’s parents want justice for their son and called for the school to take action, per Newsweek.
Jamal also said that Andreas was the victim of one of the worst cases of bullying that he had ever heard of.
The boy’s father also said: “This is not gonna fly. At all. This ain’t right. This is our tradition. He had beautiful, long hair and all of a sudden it gets cut. It hurts.”
The boy’s parents also said that the elementary school failed to notify them about the incident until this past weekend, when students and staff were already dismissed for Spring Break.
The boy’s father told KOCO: “Knowing that the school did not contact me at all until Saturday morning and yet they want to investigate it, but not until Monday when school goes back in, so I feel like they were just trying to sweep it under the rug.”
The school district released a statement saying that it has launched an investigation on the same day the incident happened and that it is taking the matter seriously.
They released the following statement: “We recognize the cultural significance of hair to our students’ identities and do not take this lightly. Any students found to be involved will receive discipline in a manner consistent with steps outlined in our student handbook.”
The boy’s parents said that this isn’t the first time their son has been bullied and they are planning to remove their son from Del City Elementary.
The boy’s father also said: “Would you like it if somebody did that to you? Would you like it if somebody did that to your brother, your sister, your cousin or something? Would y’all like that? No. What makes it right for y’all to do that to my son?”
The 7-year-old boy intends to fully grow his hair back to the length that it was previously. This incident remains under investigation. This is a developing story and it will be updated as new information become available.