Noah Gilbert was born with a unique set of genes that he shares with only 2 percent of the world’s population: red hair.
But rather than being celebrated for his unique features, Noah was mocked and bullied for being a “ginger,” at just three years old.
The young boy was upset when he asked his mom why he had “horrible” hair, after a cruel teenager on the bus made disgusting comments to Noah, including: “I would hate my child to be ginger, I would kill it” and “All kids with ginger hair should go straight to social services.”
His mother, Lauren, was with him the whole time and tried to shield Noah from the awful remarks. But when they got home, he cried to his mom, asking why he couldn’t have blonde hair like his older brother.
Lauren took to Facebook to detail the heartbreaking experience and plead for others to stand up against bullying. The young mother of four took matters into her own hands and used social media to show her son that he is perfectly loved just the way he is:
Today my heart broke in two. Whilst travelling on a public bus number 12 I witnessed such cruel behaviour towards my 3 year old son from a very narrow minded boy who couldn’t be much older than 13.
Unfortunately this hasn’t been the first time and I know it won’t be the last. He’s been targeted by people of all ages.
And what for? Because he has ginger hair. My beautiful boy was told social services should have taken him away because his hair colour is disgusting. The boy then turned to his friend and said if he ever had a ginger child he would kill it. Now my little boy is only 3 and was left very confused.. I feel devastated as I [too] have ginger hair and [know] all too well what it’s like to grow up being singled out [as] the target of such bullies.
He hasn’t stopped asking me why people don’t like his hair. He asked me if I could change it for him so people will like it. He asked me if he could be like his brother who doesn’t have ginger hair. I can feel my heart breaking every time he asks me. My little boy looks so sad and I want to make it better.
The reason I am trying to go public with this is because I know these cruel bullies are in the minority. I want to show my little boy that there is more good in this world than bad. There are kind and caring non judgemental people who won’t ever single him out.
I ask you all to please share this and show my boy how beautiful he is. I want to show him the good in this world with the power of Facebook. It isn’t okay to bully somebody for their hair colour, not now. Not ever. Thankyou xxx
Her post ignited a storm of people commenting with their own ginger photos and sharing their experience with bullying, in hopes of encouraging young Noah.
Some even pointed to celebrity idols like Ed Sheeran and Prince Harry, who rock their ginger hair like red-carpet royalty.
In just a short bit of time, Lauren’s inbox was blowing up with messages of support, and people from all over the world were joining together to make Noah feel good about his hair.
“This afternoon he said he thinks he has lovely hair now, which is a relief, but he shouldn’t have had that worry in the first place,” she wrote.
Lauren hopes the teen apologizes to Noah and realizes what his words did to the young boy—but either way, she is beyond grateful for the overwhelming amount of support he has received from people across the globe.
It turns out, she was right. That bully WAS outnumbered, by thousands of kind strangers who took the time to show her precious son how special he truly is. ❤️
