Tattoo-Covered Kindergarten Teacher in France Loses Job After Complaint

A man in France, who has his entire body and face covered in tattoos, in addition to the whites of his eyes surgically turned black, claims he’s no longer allowed to teach kindergartners after a parent complained about their child having nightmares due to his appearance, Reuters reports. 

Sylvain Helaine, 35, had been teaching a kindergarten class at the Docteur Morere Elementary School in Palaiseau, a suburb in Paris, just last year. However, that all changed a few months ago when the school received a complaint from the parent of a child who wasn’t in his class. A spokesperson for the local education authority said they came to an agreement with Helaine that he could only teach students six or older since students under that age “could be frightened by his appearance.”

“All of my students and their parents were always cool with me because basically they knew me,” Helaine said. “It’s only when people see me from far away that they can assume the worst.” 

Helaine started getting tattoos eight years ago after going through an “existential crisis.” He has since spent around 460 hours getting inked, which he calls his passion. Helaine believes that his students’ first-hand experience encountering someone different from the norm could prove to be a beneficial life lesson for when they get older. “Maybe when they are adults they will be less racist and less homophobic and more open-minded,” he said.