⁍ Sylvain Helaine said he was prevented from teaching at a French kindergarten after a parent complained he scared their child.

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⁍ Helaine, 35, still teaches children from the age of six up, and said that, after an initial shock when they see him for the first time, his pupils see past his appearance.

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– Sylvain Helaine, a 35-year-old French schoolteacher, has had the whites of his eyes surgically turned black and is covered in tattoos—but he still teaches kids from the age of 6 up, Reuters reports. “All of my students and their parents were always cool with me because basically they knew me,” Helaine says. “It’s only when people see me from far away that they can assume the worst.” Helaine says he was forced to leave his job at a Paris-area kindergarten last year after a parent complained that their 3-year-old son had nightmares after seeing him. “I think the decision they took was quite sad,” Helaine says. A spokesman for the local education authority said an agreement was reached with Helaine to move him away from teaching kindergarten. Pupils under six ‘could be frightened by his appearance,’ the spokesman said. Despite the setbacks, Helaine says he will stick with his chosen career. “I’m a primary school teacher … I love my job.”