The sad reason this boy decided to cut off his long hair

Eight-year-old Mylon's hair used to fall all the way down his back, but after years of being bullied about it at school, he told his mom he wanted to cut it off.

"He told me he did not want his hair anymore," Mylon's mom, Tiya-Marié Lärge, said in an interview with CBC.

"I cried. His hair is who we are, it's a part of us, it's his language, it's his pride."

Mylon and his mother are First Nations and having long hair holds a lot of significance in their culture. The night before the big chop earlier this week, Lärge posted a video of Mylon to Facebook where he encourages people to teach their kids about the cultural meaning of his long hair. "Bullying is NOT Okay! Teach your kids about long hair!" read the pieces of paper held up by a silent Mylon in the video. "My hair is who I am. It is a part of my culture."

The best part, though, is when Mylon directly addresses his bullies, telling them, "You do not define me. You did not beat me. I am not weak. It's OK to have long hair."

The video has since gone viral and now has over 200,000 views.

In the end, Lärge let Mylon decide for himself if he really wanted to cut his hair. Their whole family accompanied him to salon the next day, and Mylon got his hair cut to just below his chin.

We love the strength and vulnerability this little boy showed in the face of his bullies, and we hope his new haircut makes going to school much easier for him. We think the new do looks just as good as his long locks and judging from the smile on his face in the photo below, Mylon loves it too.

"He plans on growing his hair back. He knows it will grow back stronger, faster, and he will grow at the same time…he's been extremely happy," said Mylon's mother. "My family would also like to say that this is a shout out to other boys with long hair who battle bullying. Boys with braids need to know that they are strong and need to continue to be strong."

Stay strong, Mylon!

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