13th Birthday
Kelsey Frederick was excited about her 13th birthday. Her parents, Schaffren and Christian, had gotten divorced years early. Her father was engaged to a woman named, Sarah, and the two gave Kelsey three brothers who she loved. She was going to have a birthday party at her mother’s house and at her father’s house, which she did every year. She loved the idea of having two birthday parties. Since her 13th was a big birthday, Christian had something special planned.
Kelsey’s Parents
When Schaffren and Christian got divorced, they were awarded joint custody. This meant that Kelsey spent half her time with her mother, and half her time with her father. Even though Kelsey’s time was split evenly with her mother and her father, she was closer to Christian. She and Kelsey were the best of friends. Kelsey had a good relationship with her father, but she had a strong bond with her mother.
Sleepovers and Highlights
Christian planned a sleepover party for Kelsey and a few of her friends. After, she would take her to the salon to get blonde highlights in her hair, then send her to her father’s house for the rest of the weekend. Kelsey was excited about her party, but she was more excited about the highlights. She always wanted lighter hair, and she was finally going to get the chance to have them. After Kelsey’s hair appointment, her mother took her to get her nails done, then to Sephora to get her makeup done. Kelsey was a girlie-girl and loved to do her hair and borrow her mother’s makeup.
For Kelsey, it was the best birthday gift. Christian saw the huge smile on her daughter’s face, and it made her happy. She had never seen Kelsey so delighted and confident before. She took a photo of Kelsey after her makeover and posted it on Facebook. And she wanted her family and friends to see how beautiful she looked. Unfortunately, there was one person who wasn’t impressed with Kelsey’s new look.
An Angry Father
When Kelsey got dropped off at her father’s house, he saw her daughter’s hair, and he was livid. He thought that having highlights at 13 was unacceptable. Rather than giving his daughter a lecture about acting her ago or making her wear a hat while shew as with him, her father took things way too far.
Mother’s Intuition
Typically, Christian didn’t hear much from Kelsey when she was with her father because she was always busy with him and his new family. For some reason, on this day, Christian knew that there was something wrong. Several days had passed, and she hadn’t heard from her daughter.
A Terrible Haircut
A few days later, Kelsey finally came home. Christian didn’t recognize her own daughter. Her eyes were swollen and puffy, and her beautiful, highlighted hair was gone. It had been chopped off. Christian asked her daughter what happened. It turned out that Schaffren didn’t like Kelsey’s hair, and took her to the hairdresser kicking and screaming to have the daughter’s hair cut off.
According to a professional hairstyle, what Kelsey’s father asked for was a “complete chop-off.” She said that it was cut like a boy’s hair, with no way to style it. Kelsey was so upset that she wouldn’t even take her hands away from her face. Christian was furious. She couldn’t get Kelsey to talk about what happened, so she drove to Schaffren’s house. As soon as she saw her ex, she started screaming in his face. He told Christian that he and his fiance thought that she was too young for highlights, and actions have consequences. Christian agreed with him about actions having consequences, but he had no idea that it would be he who would face them.
Going To the Police and the Public
The first place that Christian went after leaving her ex’s home was the police station. She wanted to file charges against him for what he did to their daughter. Christian believed that is was a form of abuse that was much more than Kelsey deserved. Next, she posted a photo of Kelsey right after getting her highlights, then a photo of her daughter’s hair after her ex forced her to cut it. She only meant for friends and family members to see what her ex did, but it ended up going viral. In just a week, the post was shared over 24,000 times, and over 33,000 people reacted to it.
Schaffren’s Consequences
The police knocked on Schaffren’s door. The officer involved said that he had never seen a case like this one in the 25+ years he has been on the force. They couldn’t arrest him for what he did to his daughter, but Christian used the police report in court, and she got full custody of Kelsey. Schaffren and his wife both worked for the Middletown Township fire department, and when they heard about what happened, they were both placed on administrative leave. The fire department made a statement and said that they didn’t want people like that working for them. The consequences that Schaffren and his wife suffered for their actions were severe and life-changing.
Support
Thanks to the viral post, Kelsey was getting more support than she could have ever imagined. People from all over were supporting her, and not her father. Kelsey was only 13, and the attention was starting to get to her. It was bad enough that people were staring at her at school, but the social media attention was becoming too much. Fortunately, something good came out of the situation.
GoFundMe
Kelsey’s aunt Kelly set up a GoFundMe account to try to help. Her aunt set a goal of $1,000 to pay for her to get the daughter’s hair fixed and maybe some new clothes to help her regain her confidence. The account went well past the goal, and $3,543 was donated. One anonymous donor gave $2,000. This was going to be more than enough money for Kelsey to get her hair fixed. Since there wasn’t much the hairdresser could do, and her hair was too short for extensions, Kelsey decided to get a wig. She could wear a wig until her hair grew out enough to get extensions.
Dad cuts daughter’s hair off for getting birthday highlights, then mom does the unthinkable. She went to the police, started an online campaign, and people reached out to help her daughter. Thanks to her wig, Kelsey has her confidence back, but her relationship with her father might never be the same.
