At a time when most 6th graders would rather crawl up and die than to be seen as “different,” it’s an anomaly that one boy would endure taunts, teasing, bullying and rude comments to grow his hair out “and look like a girl” for a good cause. David Stearns of Appleton, ME, (Powerful student at Midcoast Martial Arts) recently donated his hair to Locks of Love.
Stearns, who was featured in his local paper, wanted to honor his grandfather who recently died of cancer as well as help someone his age, through locks of love, feel normal and beautiful again. It took his 2 years to grow his hair 13 inches to have it cut and donated to someone in need. Despite being taunted by classmates, told to leave the boy’s bathroom, and called “young lady” by strangers, he endured.
School is a hard place for gender bending, given the strict rules of in-group/out-group and the need to be like everyone else. It is especially hard for a boy to embrace a female identifier, long hair, at a time when physicality is scrutinized. While girls can dabble in “boy things” and be called a tomboy without too much complaint, a boy who takes on anything typically “female” is easily called the very ugly, emasculating term, “sissy.” It takes a very strong boy with courage, conviction, self confidence, and a strong sense of self to do what he did without wavering.
His instructor, Andrew Lesmerisis said:
I’ve been using his story in the open mindedness power chats as it hit both sides — he was open to trying the new idea, and many were narrow minded in assuming he was a girl because his hair was long. He put up with a lot of narrow minded people to achieve his higher goal!
As the Powerful Word of the Month is open-mindedness, we commend David’s ability to be open-minded and help another child in need. For those who teased and taunted, perhaps it’s time to open your mind, learn a little tolerance, and commend a boy for stepping up. Let’s all give David a round of applause. Congratulations to David as well as to his supportive family.
