Middle school principal shaves head in solidarity with bullied student
When 11-year-old Jackson Johnston’s grandfather was diagnosed with a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma over the holidays, little Jackson shaved his own head in solidarity with his beloved “Papa Rick.” He anticipated that the act would mean something to his grandpa battling cancer. What he didn’t anticipate is how the other kids in his school would react.
Rather than being sympathetic or showing support, Jackson’s peers apparently began taunting him with nicknames like “baldy” and questions like, “Hey, do you have cancer?”
Naturally, this incensed Jackson’s mother. So, she called his principal, Tim Hadley, at Packwood, Iowa’s Pekin Middle School.
“I felt bad because here was a student who was trying to do something good, only to see it turn out negatively,” Hadley tells CBS News.
Disheartened by the actions of some of his students, Hadley racked his brains to come up with the best course of action.
“I chose to make a show of support for Jackson and his grandfather,” explains Hadley. “I hoped it would sent a message that it is more powerful if we stand together for one another than it is if we are divisive.”
So, he called an assembly of the entire middle school. And when all the students and teachers were seated in the school’s commons area, the young principal with short brown hair asked Jackson to come up and shave his head as well.
Ever since that public display of support for Jackson, Hadley says the other students have been “amazingly supportive and... very open about their own struggles and family events.”
So, it seems all it took was an act of kindness to set an example that the students could follow. In the process, it even made way for them to open up about struggles in their own lives as well. Now, Hadley hopes his story helps spread this message of compassion beyond their small Iowa town.
“I hope that people will realize that we all battle something. We owe it to ourselves to check our hearts before making that quick comment or judgement. None of us can make it in this world alone. We need one another.”
