Teacher Shaves Teen Girl's Armpits in Class
A Victoria, Australia mom is upset after a teacher shaved her teen daughter's armpits in class, in front of two other girls. The school says it's just part of the curriculum.
Fourteen-year-old Taylah is a special-needs student enrolled in a life skills program. Her mom, Melissa Woods, says the public shaving left her "extremely upset."
"I spoke to the teacher the very next day and she told me that she has the right to do it, it's part of the curriculum," she told radio station 3AW.
Principal Libby Hosking said parents were informed that shaving was part of the class.
"The overview went home in the final week of team one with a note that explained this is what we would be doing," she told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Hosking also said that the students had been taught about consent, and the teacher got Taylah's permission for the shaving demonstration. She emphasized that students weren't taught they needed to shave their armpits, "it's just an option."
But Woods says Taylah's teacher told her Taylah would get picked on for having hairy underarms. She also said she hadn't given the school permission, and her daughter had previously told her that she didn't want to shave.
The school apologized for not sending home a permission slip, but not for the actual shaving. Woods has escalated her complaint to the school district.