Mother expresses outrage after teacher took her daughter’s drawing and claimed it was ‘inappropriate’

A mother has expressed outrage after a teacher took her 11-year-old daughter’s drawing and claimed that the artwork was “inappropriate”.

In a video posted to TikTok last month, Sierra (@sierraleann30) recalled the phone call that she got from her 11-year-old daughter’s teacher about the art project, which was deemed “inappropriate”. She also said that one of the students in the school, based in Michigan, was the first one to make a remark about the drawing.

“[Her teacher] told me that a little boy had come up to her and made her aware that he thought my daughter drew boy parts on her pig project,” she explained. “So she went over and asked my daughter for all of her papers, to which my daughter kind of nervously laughed.”

Sierra went on to explain that while her classmates were “making a big deal” about the drawing, her daughter told her teacher that all she had drawn was “a bow tie” on her picture of a pig.

The mother noted that her daughter’s project was then given to the school’s vice principal, before she got to see the art project herself. She then described her meeting with the school’s employees and how shocked she was about the complaints after seeing the drawing.

“I sit down with her teacher and social worker for the school. And they hand me her art project, that was just so offensive,” Sierra sarcastically said. “And as soon as I look at it. I’m like: ‘Are you freaking kidding me? Are you freaking kidding me?’”

She went on to detail how she defended her daughter’s drawing, explaining: “Like I literally slammed my hand on the table and I said: ‘To be completely frank with you, I am pissed. Like why are we sitting here right now? Why is there a big deal made out of it? It’s a freaking bowtie.”

Sierra said that the work was given to the principal, who wanted to write upthe 11-year-old for her drawing. She noted that the principal was then brought into a conference room, where she explained to him that the design on the pig was “a bowtie”. However, she said that the principal didn’t agree.

She said that the principal then decided that he wouldn’t give his daughter a write up “this time”. However, she noted that he still told her he had to “put her artwork in a folder, in case any future incidents come up where she’s inappropriate”.

She then noted that her daughter has never “been inappropriate” and “never even talked about boy parts” or “girl parts”. She also asked the principal why he put the art in a folder, since “there was nothing” that her child “did wrong” that he could “bring up” later.

Sierra concluded her video by noting that she’s “super confused” by her situation and that teachers at the school should have defended her daughter.

“It’s bullcrap,” she said. “And I can see where an 11-year-old boy might have looked at her artwork and seen something different. But I feel like that’s where her teacher should have shut it down and said: ‘You know, you might think that’s what she drew, but it’s not what she drew. And she’s saying it’s a bowtie.’ It could have been shut down. It could have been stopped, but it was not.”

She concluded the video with a photo of the drawing, which featured a pink pig wearing the tie that her daughter drew. There was also a speech bubble next to the pig that read “Hi.”

As of 9 February, the video has more than 825,300 views, with TikTok users in the comments defending the drawing and criticising the school.

“The social worker could have stopped this issue in seconds, shameful! The adults have their heads in the gutter,” one wrote.

“Teacher here… bow tie,” another wrote. “But I woulda had to show my fellow teachers because it’s cute and funny. Nothing more.”

A third added: “Since when are “boy parts” at the neck!!?? I’d be meeting with the superintendent.”

In a follow up video, Sierra said that she had a meeting with the superintendent of the school. She noted that after the meeting, he sent her an email saying that he agreed with the school’s decision to keep her daughter’s artwork in a folder. Earlier this week, she also shared a video to reveal she got t-shirts made with the drawing on it.

The Independent has contacted Sierra for comment.