An Indianapolis school principal is winning praise online after a picture of him giving one of his student’s a haircut went viral.
The eighth-grade student wasn’t feeling too confident about his looks and was wearing a hat in school.
Jason Smith, principal of Stonybrook Intermediate and Middle School in Warren Township, Indiana used some clippers and solved the student’s problem by giving the insecure boy a haircut.
Jason Smith said, “I sat down with him and asked him why and what was going on. He said he just got his haircut and didn’t like the way it looked. He thought his hairline looked a little funny,” Smith said.
Although the student looked fine to the principal but he understood what the young boy must have been going through and offered to cut the student’s hair if he agreed to go back to class.
“I’ve been cutting hair most of my life. I played college basketball cut my teammates’ hair before games, and I’ve been cutting my son’s hair for 17 years. So, I had professional clippers and edgers at home, so I said, ‘If I go home and get my clippers and line you up, will you go back to class?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I will,’” Smith said.
After he got his haircut, the student held up his end of the bargain and went to class. Smith says he knows that to a Black middle school student, it can mean the world.
“That age is a time where peer acceptance is huge. So, a young man, especially an African American young man, the barbershop is a big deal in the community. Looking good and representing and presenting yourself is huge for kids,” he said.
This morning a student refused to take off his hat and go to class so he was sent to the principals office. Instead of…
Posted by Lewis Speaks Sr. on Thursday, 18 February 2021
While people everywhere are praising the principal for his act of kindness, he says he’s doing exactly what he’s supposed to do. He’s on a mission to change the culture of his school to make it a place where problems get solved, instead of making them worse.
“We’re not disciplining with a hard fist. You could call and have the parent pick the kid up for defiance, or you can sit and get to the root of the problem and see what can I do to help you? What do you need right now?” Smith said.
Smith is studying for his doctorate in education and says he is searching for the best ways to create the perfect learning environment for his students. He says this haircut could be a lesson for all educators on having empathy. “He really was not trying to get out of class. He just thought that he would be laughed at, so we took the time and did what we could to help him,” Smith said.
