Mom Outraged As Her Daughter, 7, Is Given Henna TATTOOS On School 'Multicultural' Day'

#1 Aghast: Tammy Samour (above) was shocked when she picked up her daughter from school and saw the girl had henna tattoos on her hands

A Texas mother is speaking out after her daughter's school gave the young girl a henna tattoo the week before Christmas.

Tammy Samour was shocked when she picked up her daughter Leah, 7, from Ed White Elementary School in Houston and saw the second grader's hands covered in the designs, which are traditionally applied to the hands and feet of women during Hindu ceremonies and festivals.

That shock soon turned to outrage however as Ms. Samour says she never gave the school permission to tattoo Leah - and now the brown paste will not wash off her hands. It can take several days before the vegetable dye fades.

Ms. Samour also said that connections she discovered between the Hindu and Muslim faiths were of concern to her when she decided to do further research on the tattoo.

#2 Problem: Ms. Samour is also concerned after she researched henna, which she had never heard of, and found connections between the Hindu and Muslim faiths

'It's upsetting to go through Christmas with another religion's celebratory symbolism all over my daughter's hands,' Ms. Samour told KHOU.

The school points out however that they did notify parents that their children would be getting henna tattoos as part of Multicultural Day, where they also learned about the cultures of Spain, the United States, Australia and Israel.

Ms. Samour told Click 2 Houston that while the family did receive this email from the school, it was her husband who read it and it made no difference as neither one of them had heard of henna tattoos.

#3 Disbelief: Ms. Samour says she never gave the school permission to give her daughter Leah, 7, the tattoos (above), and now they will not wash off her hands

'Learning about culture is awesome, but I don't want it tattooed on my daughter, it is not our culture,' said Ms. Samour.

She later added; 'Especially that Christmas is next week. We have family photos, opening presents, church, and she is going to be wearing that on her hands throughout the holiday.'

#4

Ms. Samour said teachers spent two days scrubbing Leah's hands with every cleaning product they had but nothing worked to remove the tattoos.

#5

The school has accepted responsibility for not explaining what henna tattoos are to parents in their email, and said they will be sure to keep everyone better informed in the future.

#6

'We certainly will do a better job in the future to make sure that parents are informed of what this is and how long it will take [for the dye to wash off], and again we regret that this family is upset about it,' said Clear Creek Independent School District director of communications Elaina Polsen.

#7 She also noted; 'This is intended to celebrate diversity and not to be divisive.'