Children can be mean towards one another, so many teens find school a dreading place where they need to look impeccable in order not to get teased. Most are self-aware and tend to fit in with the crowd and that can easily lead them to trouble.
An Indiana middle schooler student named Anthony Moore broke the dress code after he refused to take his hat off during lesson time. Teachers demanded that he get rid of the hat, but he wasn’t about to listen to what they asked him to do.
After speaking with the dean, he was taken to the principal’s office, a place where no student wants to be. But as Anthony expected to be scolded for being defiant, the principal, Jason Smith, who seems to understand students quite well, opted for a different approach. He started talking to Anthony in a friendly manner because he could sense there was something more behind his behavior.
“I sat across from him and asked, ‘What’s wrong? Why are you being defiant, why are you refusing to take your hat off? It’s a pretty simple request,’” Smith said. “And he explained that his parents took him to get a haircut and he didn’t like the results.”
As it turned out, Anthony hated his hairline and was willing to face the consequences of wearing his hat at school if that meant his classmates wouldn’t make fun of his disastrous haircut.
Smith was aware the student was worried about social acceptance, so he made him an offer.
“I told him, ‘Look, I’ve been cutting hair since I was your age,’ and I showed him pictures of my son’s haircuts that I did and some of me cutting hair in college. And I said, ‘If I run home and get my clippers and fix your line, will you go back to class?’” Smith said. “He hesitated but then he said yes.”
Smith rushed home to take his clippers although the weather was tough and snowy. In the meantime, Anthony’s parents were contacted by a school’s representative who explained to them the entire situation and asked for a permission for their son’s hair to be cut properly. Not only did they agree but were thrilled by how the principal handled the situation.
“He (Smith) handled it very well to keep him from getting in trouble at school,” Anthony’s mom Tawanda Johnson said. “I’m just glad that he was able to handle that without being put in in-school suspension.”
Smith knew exactly what Anthony was going through.
“He didn’t say straight out, but I feel like he didn’t want to be laughed at,” Smith said. “The barbershop and haircuts as Black males is very important in the community and looking your best and being sharp — it’s just a cultural aspect. Just from my being a Black male myself and coming through that culture and you know, I really think girls matter at that age, which [means] appearance then could matter. He was scared he was going to be laughed at and we were pretty sure no one would notice, but he was looking through his lens.”
Not everyone is good at dealing with young children and their problems, but Smith is one of those people who know how to show understanding and compassion for the students at his school. He is the kind person we all wish our children to have in their lives while dealing with insecurities at school.
For more on this heartwarming story check out the video below.