6 Sons All Cut Off Their Long Hair To Donate It To Charity

When you notice someone else is doing something that you think is strange or that you don’t approve of, ask yourself this question: is it hurting anybody else?

If the answer is “no”, then you should probably walk away and mind your own business. It’s not up to you to decide what is best for other people, especially if you haven’t bothered to find out why they have made certain choices.

If you bothered to ask, you might have a different perspective on the entire situation.

Phoebe Kannisto has six sons: a set of five-year-old triplets, a pair of eight-year-old twins, and a ten-year-old. The family lives in Cheektowaga, New York an until recently, all six boys had very long hair.

Hair length and style are an example of something that doesn’t negatively affect anyone else. It’s a personal choice, and we should all respect that. Whether or not you like someone’s hairstyle doesn’t matter, as long as they are happy with it themselves.

How would you like it if someone made fun of your appearance?

Yet, many people don’t seem to understand this very simple concept and have to comment on everything, even the hair of a few young boys.

All six boys were bullied for their long hair during the time they were growing it out. It wasn’t just kids their age doing the bullying, either, the unnecessary and unfair judgments and unkind words often came from adults. And adults should know better!

A special reason

What all those bullies didn’t realize was that these boys were growing their hair out for a special reason. They lost a family friend to cancer and some of the boys were close in age. They were affected by the death of their friend and wanted to do something to help.

So, all six boys decided to grow out their hair and donate it to the nonprofit organization, Children with Hair Loss. It took months, but eventually, the boys were able to donate 17 feet of hair!

Before you make fun of someone or bully them for something you don’t understand, take a minute to think about what you’re doing. If it doesn’t hurt anyone else, then it’s none of your business!

The boys' decision makes those months of growing their hair look very different. What strangers treated as an invitation to comment was actually part of an effort to respond to losing someone they cared about. The family did not need the approval of every person who saw them. They needed the time to carry out a choice that had meaning beyond their appearance.

Their experience is also a reminder that adults help set the tone for how children treat one another. A careless remark about a boy's hair can teach the same unfair judgment that adults say they want children to avoid. Taking a moment to ask, or simply choosing not to mock someone, leaves room for a story that may be very different from the one a stranger imagines.

Seventeen feet of donated hair represents a shared commitment among six brothers of different ages. Their contribution grew quietly before anyone could see its final purpose. That patience deserves more attention than the assumptions that were made along the way.