A French man who is heavily tattooed said his passion for ink has cost him his job.
Sylvain Helaine is a 35-year-old school teacher. He's also a body modification enthusiast. He's spent over 450 hours getting tattoos that cover his body, face, and tongue. He's also had the whites of his eyes surgically turned black.
Sylvain is an experienced primary school teacher. He was working as a kindergarten teacher in France last year when he experienced his first career problem related to his appearance. A set of parents complained that his appearance gave their child nightmares. As a result, he was told could no longer teach students under the age of 6.
It saddened Sylvain. He explained that in his experience, students embrace him after getting over the initial shock over his look. He says that little ones are often more accepting than their adult counterparts. When he teaches them about accepting others' differences, he can only hope they take that home and impress it upon the adults in their lives.
Sylvain Helaine has been a teacher for about 12 years. In 2020, his appearance became an issue in his profession for the first time. Sylvain has decided to speak out about the experience, which left him banned from teaching students under the age of 6.
Sylvain started getting tattoos when he was 27 while teaching at a private school in London. He was in the middle of what he called an existential crisis.
"Getting tattoos is my passion," he told Reuters.
In 2019, Sylvain was teaching kindergarten at the Docteur Morere Elementary School in Palaiseau, a suburb of Paris. Parents of a 3-year-old complained to the school that Sylvain's appearance gave their child nightmares. The child was not one of Sylvain's students.
He explained that his students and their families were all completely comfortable.
"All of my students and their parents were always cool with me because basically they knew me," he said. "It's only when people see me from far away that they can assume the worst."
A few months later, the school made the decision to let Sylvain go. The school feared his appearance was too frightening for kindergarten students, despite never receiving complaints from any kindergarten students.
"I think the decision they took was quite sad," Sylvain said.
A spokesperson for the school explained to Reuters that Sylvain wasn't fired. Rather, they felt they reached an agreement with him and that he understood. Students under 6 "could be frightened by his appearance," they reasoned.
Most people view Sylvain's body modifications as extreme. He's undergone about 450 hours of tattooing. Practically his entire body is covered, including his head, face, and tongue. More recently, he had the whites of his eyes dyed black.
Still, Sylvain feels that children have been more compassionate and accepting of his looks than most adults.
"There is always a moment of stunned silence," he told The Jakarta Post. "But when I introduce myself and they see that I am a teacher like all the others, it's cool."
"Children who see me learn tolerance of others," he explained. "When they are adults they may be less likely to be racist or homophobic, and they will not look at disabled people as if they were something from a circus."
To him, that's the best takeaway a student could get from knowing him.
Students of his agreed.
"You should not judge him because of his appearance," said 9-year-old Gayane.
Another child, Loic, noted that it is "worrying that people get stuck on physical appearance. It is mostly the parents who react because today young people are more educated about respecting all appearances."
