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Daycare Faces Potential Lawsuit After Toddler’s Braid Is Ripped Off Scalp

When we bring our children to school, we do so with the assumption that they are being taken care of in a safe, loving environment.

This is particularly important in preschools and daycares, where parents are often relinquishing care of their children for the very first time, and are often grappling with a whole host of irrational fears.

Young kids are always going to explore and get minor bumps and bruises as they play, but we should be able to trust that nothing worse than that will come upon them when they're away from home.

There are varying opinions regarding how responsible teachers are for the children in their care.

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Personally, both of my parents are teachers, with my mother being a supervisor for a French immersion preschool/daycare center, so I've seen a lot of this debate first hand.

Some people think that anything that happens to a kid at daycare is on the teacher.

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But others argue that it's a little more complicated then that, as the teacher can't always control what kids do among themselves.

One woman in Georgia dropped her daughter off at daycare with the assumption that she would be taken care of.

Instagram | @dikoo_diko_

Arielle has been taking her 3-year-old daughter Alani to daycare in their area for just under a year, but last Thursday, Arielle picked up her daughter and made a shocking discovery.

Alani said that a little boy in her class bit one of her braids, then yanked it right off her scalp.

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When Arielle confronted Alani's teacher Miss Brown about the incident she said that Alani was lying, and that she pulled it out herself.

"I pay $600 CASH every month for daycare."

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"My child has been going to this same daycare since she was 5 months old," Arielle explained in an Instagram post.

"Yesterday when my sister picked Alani up from daycare she told her that a little boy bit her braid and ripped it from the scalp."

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"Miss Brown was upstairs when it happened," the post continued. "I called the daycare provider EXTREMELY PISSED ... and she tells me that my child is lying and she was not aware of this happening."

Arielle says that it wouldn't make sense for her daughter to have pulled out the braid herself.

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"Alani has been getting her hair braided and styled since she was born," she explained. "So I find that VERY hard to believe."

She has since contacted the local school board, but the case is still under investigation.

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"I'm trying to keep my composure because that's the only thing right at this time," Arielle said, speaking to 11Alive. "My child's hair has been ripped from her scalp."

"This is not weave, these are not any extensions. These are braids coming from her real hair from her scalp."

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Since the incident, Alani has been pulled out of her local daycare.

"She is my child," Arielle continued. "And I’m going to defend her every chance I get."

Commentors have swarmed to the mother's defense.

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"This is a lawsuit," one user writes, "It’s a difference between cutting & pulling hair. I’ve had fights and managed to leave with more hair on my scalp than this innocent baby."

"If you don’t have patience a heart of compassion, a Teaching/Healthcare job Is NOT FOR YOU"

Instagram | @_scifun

The daycare owner has yet to release any statements regarding the case, but the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning released their own statement shortly after:

"The health and safety of Georgia’s youngest learners and peace of mind for their families is always our top priority," a spokesperson remarked.

According to a report filed May 1st 2019, Blessings Daycare does operate under code.

Instagram | @wintergreenlearning

The required teaching ratio in the state is one caregiver for every six children, though this ratio is much more effective on paper than it is in practice.

Do you think the mother has a case?

Let us know whether you're on Arielle's side or the teacher's side. How do you think her daughter lost her braid? Does this kind of thing just 'go along' with placing your child in daycare?

h/t: Yahoo Lifestyle