When you send your child off to daycare, you expect them to return looking the same way as they did when they left. Altering a child’s appearance, especially when he or she is young, will have lasting, damaging psychological effects. These parents were livid when they picked their kids up from daycare and discovered that the workers had waxed the children’s eyebrows.
Alyssa Salgado lives with her daughter, Lilayiah, in Pasco, Washington. Lilayiah attended a daycare located at the Columbia Basin College while her mom was away at work. The last Thursday morning that she went to the center was just like every other day, but by the evening time something was wrong.
Alyssa took a closer look at her daughter and realized that her appearance had been altered by the daycare workers. “I, like, got a closer look and I saw she was missing her patch of hair,” Alyssa explained to KEPR-TV. “She has a unibrow, and she was born like that.”
Understandably, this mom was upset. The staff could have hurt the little girl when they waxed her eyebrows, and this treatment would not soon be forgotten. Children are sensitive to the opinions of adults. Having someone try to change her appearance at this stage of growth would certainly leave a mark on Lilayiah’s psyche.
Alyssa immediately called the daycare system to issue a complaint. She then got in contact with other parents whose children attended the daycare. She quickly found another victim of the problem.
Glenda Maria Cruz had experienced a similar situation when she picked up her son on the same day. “I tried to touch his face,” an upset Glenda shared. “He doesn’t let me touch his face. He says, ‘No, no, stop,’ and it hurts me because that’s my baby.”
The women went to the center the next morning to discuss the issue. The daycare, which is under the charge of the Boys and Girls Club of Benton and Franklin Counties, was receptive to what these moms had to say.
A few days later Brian Ace, the executive director of the organization, released a statement saying, “The Boys and Girls Club takes these allegations seriously and will work to support the investigation process.”
The mothers have both pulled their children out of the daycare, but they are relieved that their voices are being heard.
When the Washington State Department of Learning caught wind of the situation, they stepped in to investigate as well. The evidence is piling up – Alyssa even has a statement from Lilayiah’s doctor confirming that hair was removed from between her eyebrows.
With all the information under scrutiny, the only thing left to do is wait. What happened to these children is not right, and we can only hope that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
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