Something deeply disturbing happened this week, and I need your input. I’m having trouble even figuring out where to begin. Recently my class of pre-teens/teens was instructed on hygiene: how to keep clean, what shampoo and conditioner are for, importance of brushing teeth, etc. It was a great presentation and the kids were totally into it and seemed to have a good handle on how to take care of themselves. Well, knowing what to do and doing it are completely different things, as we would come to find out.
The hygiene lesson stemmed from the need of a female student in particular…okay, frankly it was a hair intervention, the kind your friends or parents usually perform, long before middle school. The girl comes to school every day with a mop of hair on her head that looks like it has never seen a day with a comb. It looks as if it’s been teased to the point that it’s angry and looking for revenge.
Our bright idea was to see if she would want to volunteer for a hair makeover, which she happily did. At first we considered taming the frizz/curls/clumps with water and hair gel (while teaching her to twist and let dry). We didn’t want to make the furr ball bigger, so we opted for using a straightener instead. We were all set to start the process and learned that underneath the top layer of unbrushed but manageable strands there were not 1 but 2 layers of matted clumps. I have never quite seen anything like it. At first glance it was overwhelming, but then it just kind of made us angry, as this young girl needed someone to walk her through self-care and she obviously wasn’t getting what she needs.
While working on the tangles, the girl was questioned about when she washed her hair last… and she couldn’t remember! It had been so long that she had no idea when her hair had last touched soap; according to the mess we find, it was absolutely believable. The finished product looked great! She had beautifully straightened hair (which was still quite bushy and therefore we taught her how to secure it with a ponytail holder) and she was beaming from ear to ear. Her hair had grown several inches just in the detangling process alone. She left my class feeling on top of the world, and I later learned that all of the adults (and kids) were singing her praises, which she responded well to. The big test would come the next day, when we would see what she would do with her new tangle-free locks.
Things might have gone differently had I not opened my big mouth during the makeover. I made the mistake of saying, “When you straighten your hair, sometimes you can get by with not washing it for 2 days or so.” I thought this would be a good thing, as I was encouraging everyone by saying you won’t have to spend this much time on it every day, but as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew it was a mistake. When I saw her the next day, I noticed that for the most part, her hair was back to its crazy self. It wasn’t quite as bad, but it still wasn’t good. The worst part of it was that now it had tons of gel in it that needed to be desparately washed out… and soon! When I talked to someone else about this, they reassured me by saying, “No, the gel is a good thing… at least it smells nice.”
Next year, we have made plans to do a thorough hair intervention, complete with shampooing guidance and everything. But I can’t help but think… will it stick? Has anyone else had experience with this, and what can I do to help this little one out?
~Kacey
