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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think these parents should be hauled over the coals for this

265 replies

Dustysparrow · 08/02/2018 09:46

A teenage girl was given highlights for her birthday by her mum - subtle ones - and when she returned home from a visit to see her father and stepmother they had cut off all of her hair as they disapproved. She has literally about 1-2 cm of hair length left on her head. She had long hair before.

Here's the link: uk.yahoo.com/style/father-chops-off-daughter-hair-124424056.html

AIBU to think this is a form of child abuse to do this to somebody against their will??? What a cruel, hateful thing thing to do to a child.

OP posts:
Lovesagin · 08/02/2018 10:21

Saladday I dare say that goes a long way to demonstrate how controlling this father probably is. I wouldn't have let my dad do that but there again I wasn't scared of him.

SusanWalker · 08/02/2018 10:23

Even if the dad was unhappy that the mum bought highlights for their daughter cutting off all her hair is a horrendous thing to do. It's definitely abuse. I can't imagine how upset that girl must be.

LanaKanesTerfyVagina · 08/02/2018 10:25

I had purple streaks in mine at 13!

No parent has the right to forcibly cut a childs hair.
(there are a few extreme exceptions to this before anyone jumps on me!)

Bit I'm one of those awful parents who lets her 5 yr old decide how he has his hair...because it's his hair, and it's important imo that he learns as early as possible that he has autonomy over his own body.

Subtle, natural highlights are totally fine.

Keepingupwiththejonesys · 08/02/2018 10:25

That poor girl, I can only imagine how abusive her father and stepmum have been before this. This isn't something that comes out of nowhere, there will have likely been other abuse whether its mental, physical, emotional. Sick bastards

AnaWinter · 08/02/2018 10:25

Just reading the comments below the article. The godmother is paying for extensions but the mother set up a go fund me account for her daughter anyway. The cut looks very professional to me. I think there is more to this.

Eltonjohnssyrup · 08/02/2018 10:26

Why has the Mum gone to the press? That seems odd. Also seems odd they have posted a picture of her face with long hair but not with short hair. Her hairline and build also appear to be very different between the 'before' and 'after' photos.

Something stinks about this. Being 'suspended from work' is more likely to be because the press has descended and disrupted the fire stations operations than because of a haircut.

LanaKanesTerfyVagina · 08/02/2018 10:26

And to me it simply reads as a nasty, abusive misogynistic wankstain who thinks his daughter, her looks and her hair is his property.

Still not got another side to it...

Zaphodsotherhead · 08/02/2018 10:26

That short haitr hasn't just been 'chopped', it's been properly cut and styled (look how neatly the back has been trimmed). So they didn't hold her down and hack at it...

Maybe she's scared of her dad and went along with the cut to keep him quiet?

MissionItsPossible · 08/02/2018 10:27

doodle I haven't seen anything to the contrary. What have you read/heard about the mothers "innocence"?

I saw the article yesterday on Metro. Poor girl.

Eltonjohnssyrup · 08/02/2018 10:28

Oh, a gofundme. Bullshiiiiit.

You can't do extensions in hair that short anyway.

PoorYorick · 08/02/2018 10:28

I wouldn't blame this poor girl if she decided to go NC with them after this.

I'd worry how intimidated/brainwashed she would be if she didn't.

BeyondThePage · 08/02/2018 10:29

Hair dye isn't toxic unless you drink it ffs - hair dye is not poisonous unless you drink/inhale it, it most certainly can be toxic - hence the skin reactions of those sensitive to it.

salons in the UK often refuse to dye the hair of under 16s as the suppliers state on their product it is not to be used on those under 16 and they cannot be insured for dyes they are advised not to use.

Soubriquet · 08/02/2018 10:29

I think it's very cruel to the girl

She will obviously be a bit traumatised by it all. Some girls see their hair as life.

What on earth possessed the dad and sm to do this? Why punish your poor daughter for this?

Eltonjohnssyrup · 08/02/2018 10:30

Apparently her mother does not have custody...the father does. Which means there have probably been questions over the mother's parenting ability...

Queenofthedrivensnow · 08/02/2018 10:31

What a horrible story. The child in question is really beautiful - lovely Hair and glowing skin.

The Mum sounds lovely it's not as if it was age inappropriate getting subtle highlights and bet the daughter loved it.

There's probably a backstory about dad forbidding it but that isn't ok either.

Must have been very traumatic but expect the mother will be fully supported by chunks seevices on this one.

Suspending the father and stepmother is pretty drastic but I guess that's the discretion of their commanding officer - I don't blame him/her!! Firefighters are supposed to be community heroes not monsters.

YoniHuman · 08/02/2018 10:32

That's just awful, Poor girl to have that done against your will. Dad & stepmom must be real pieces of work.

The Mum has updated her FB status. The local salon have let her choose a hairpiece.
www.facebook.com/christin.johnson.10/posts/1979685552060710

PoorYorick · 08/02/2018 10:33

Where's the Gofundme? I can't find the Facebook link. If a fund's been set up to buy extensions, that does look a bit dubious.

Eltonjohnssyrup · 08/02/2018 10:36

Just seem the picture of the child's 'new hair'. The child does not have 'new hair'. She has exactly the same long hair cut short.

You can't do extensions on hair that short. You certainly can't do extensions which grow out of your head and are shoulder length! This story is bullshit. The girl with the short hair is not her. Totally different build.

ChickenPaws · 08/02/2018 10:36

Whatever the back story is, the hair has been properly cut and styled. Perhaps the mother had to take her to the hairdressers after the father had cut it, or the father took her to a hairdresser himself. It hasn’t been hacked off and just left.

If she didn’t want her hair cutting off it’s still a nasty thing to do just for the sake of a few highlights.

Tarraleaha · 08/02/2018 10:36

Both parents are wrong, the mum is ridiculous to give highlights to such a young girl and going against the other parent wishes. Completely inappropriate, any mum would be fuming if a father was disregarding their wishes that way.

The dad is horrible and completely out of order to punish the poor kid that way, when really it was the mother who was at fault.

Beautiful girl, I hope she is not going to be teased at school after her story went pretty much round the world. It must be so hard to be stuck between 2 immature parents at war with each other.

PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks · 08/02/2018 10:37

A punishment for a birthday present? And yes, it's abuse. That poor girl. How do you cut off a teenage girl's hair against her will, though? I'm worried about what they threatened her with.

Rebeccaslicker · 08/02/2018 10:37

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

BeyondThePage · 08/02/2018 10:38

"The hair saga did not end there, with mum Christin then taking her daughter to a salon in Ohio to get a black wig and posting posed group shots including Kelsey with her bold new do.

The mum has even started a Facebook page Team Kelsey, which has attracted 8,000 likes, and a GoFundMe page which has since been shut down."

The gofund me has been shut down because "Team Kelsey" also refers to a girl with Lukemia who is fundraising with that page name legitimately.

smacks of a publicity hungry mum to me.

Tarraleaha · 08/02/2018 10:38

It hasn’t been hacked off and just left.
I was wondering about that, the short hair cut has clearly been done professionally. Would a hair dresser accept to chop off so much hair when the client is in tears and obviously against the cut?

PoorYorick · 08/02/2018 10:39

Cross post. Found the link but can't see the GFM. Looks legit to me...the new hair does have that sort of netting at the scalp if you look closely. I'm no expert.