Call from nursery : your daughter's hair has been cut off

[emoo777]

DD is 3 1/2 and we have been growing her lovely blonde hair, so that it was easy to put into a ponytail. I have just had a call from nursery to say the children were 'playing hairdressers' and before they saw what was happening her hair had been massively cut off. It was several inches below her neck and now apparentely can't be put into a ponytail and they suggested I book a hair appointment to even it up!?? WTF?! 3 year olds with scissors and not properly supervised? I haven't seen it yet as I have to work ahead of picking up the children. I can't work though as am furious - I don't know whether to cry or shout. What do I say to them when I pick her up? Surely this shouldn't have happened?
Help!!!
xx

You are right to be worried about the children's access to scissors and potential safety issues, however don't become too obsessed over hair. At the end of the day it's just hair. In a couple of years she may want to have it all shaved off, there is nothing wrong with a girl 'looking like a boy' and no one should get upset over such a small change in their appearance - speaking here as someone whose mother had an unhealthy obsession with her hair!

Wow, from a ponytail down to just 1cm in places is VERY short and def more than a few seconds work snipping off a ponytail. I would be beyond furious. Def arrange a meeting. What does their report say about how it happened and to what extent they were being supervised?

Um... I think it's pretty common for kids to cut each other's hair with scissors. Most kids at some point have a chop from either themselves or their peers. I also think at 3 it's completely fine for kids to use scissors without being watched every second.

I would be very concerned. Children that young should not be playing unsupervised with scissors sharp enough to cut hair.

If they were unsupervised long enough to do that much damage (as opposed to cutting off a plait which takes seconds) then how often are they under that little supervision?

Fortunately hair will grow back and no permanent damage done, but could have been far more serious (e.g. poke another child in the eye with scissors)

Well it will grow back that's one thing so a goo hairdresser will be able to even it up & make a nice short bob. No harm done.

HOWEVER that amount of cutting, not just a hacking of a chunk does take time with those scissors.

You can't ban scissors, they need to learn to use them appropriately & safely, but sounds to me that she was left for some time unsupervised. Did she do it to her own hair or did some other little monkey do it for her?!

Time for them to review their ratios or supervision of cutting activities methinks.

I would be asking why toddlers were clearly unsupervised for a considerable length of time while using scissors!!

3.5 year olds are going to be in a ratio of 1:8 at best, 1:13 in many places - not all children will have an adult watching them at all times!

I can fully imagine a child taking scissors (constant access, even if they are supposed to only be used at the craft table) and for example going in the home corner to play hairdressers without an adult noticing the real scissors.

I don't know how much supervision people are imagining in a nursery/pre-school class?

Although I know it happens, I'd still be very very upset. DD cut herself a drastic lopsided fringe about a year ago when she was 3 and I nearly cried, which I know is quite quite ridiculous but I did feel very upset.

That amount of cutting though must surely have taken some time and playing hairdressers is not the same as cutting up at the art table really.

At 3 they should be playing with those plastic rounded scissors only capable of cutting paper. They should only be using metal scissors under careful supervision whilst they are sitting down. I'm not surprised you are cross about the hair but IMO it's more of a safety issue as those scissors could have gone into her eye or something.

I just read your update of how short it is. That is a lot of work for a small child and must have taken a significant amount of time.

Oh dear op.

This reminds me of the time my dsis cut her own hair with plastic scissors supposedly only capable of cutting paper. This was less than a week before we were bridesmaids - needless to say she didn't have the planned French plait that my aunt had lovingly planned ......

I would be very cross about the level of supervision going on.

Has the pony tail "just" been snipped off in one go?

All sorts of things can be dangerous, a pencil can take an eye out not just scissors. Just saying.

I feel for you though op.

I always feel like the worst mother in the world reading these threads. Does everyone really v.v.closely supervise their 3-year-old using rounded child scissors? I certainly don't - I might easily go off to the loo or suchlike. In a nursery with 1:8 or 1:13 ratios I can totally see how this could happen, it's really unfortunate that your DD's hair is quite so short but hopefully in a couple of years (ok, maybe by her wedding day!) you might be able to laugh about it all!

You are right -- to cut off that much hair all over, the children must have been unsupervised for a long time.

I would be really, really angry about the implications of this. You are lucky it was only her hair.

You need to ask about supervision and about monitoring practices to ensure the supervision that is supposed to be in place is actually there.

I am sure they will tell you someone was there and only looked away for x number of minutes, but you will need to ask how they can verify this and what system they have in place to cover emergencies -- if one child has a nosebleed or an accident for instance, who takes over care of that child or care of the others.

OK, imagine a group of 24 children and 3 adults.

One adult is in the garden with some children
One adult is helping a child in the bathroom who has wet themselves
One adult is in the room with the other 15 children.

While the adult with 15 children is breaking up a fight, wiping noses and supervising children at the craft table, a couple of children take some scissors to the home corner and play quietly for a few minutes.

Not an unusual level of supervision. These things happen. Not all children are watched all the time.

Impecuniousmarmoset, the thing about monitoring at the nursery is that this time it was scissors - if they were unsupervised they could have climbed shelves, or climbed out a window, made a tower of little chairs and furniture, etc. The OP doesn't know how many times they have been unsupervised before or how many close calls there may have been up to today.

You can get away with leaving a child unsupervised for a little bit at home because it's just your own child who could come to harm (that doesn't sound right...) whereas in a nursery a child could hurt a lot of others.

When my DCs were 4, never mind 3, they were in a preschool where the scissors were kept high and dry and only taken out by the teacher or the aide. They never had free access to scissors. Ten to fourteen children per room and one teacher plus one aide there at all times..

has she quite fine hair? if so it wouldn't have taken long if it was tied up.

i'd be pretty concerned about the safety aspect.

I can't recall being in a nursery classroom where children didn't have continuous access to scissors (and pens and pencils).

A adult in the room doesn't mean an adult's eyes on every child every moment. It's not possible at current ratios.

I am amazed three year olds are allowed to play with scissors which are sharp enough to cut hair. I would report it as a Health & Safety issue.