Photo: TikTok
He had a different reason for crying about the haircut.
By John Sundholm — Written on May 10, 2023
First haircuts are often a dramatic event for little kids — seeing a stranger come at you with a pair of scissors has to be a bit disconcerting when you've never experienced it before! But a viral video of one little boy's first haircut had some people on the internet worried for the kid's well-being after seeing his reaction to having his long locks cut for the first time.
It turned out there was a beautiful story behind it all — but people couldn't help but feel uncomfortable all the same.
A salon owner's video shows a little boy bursting into tears as his long hair is cut off.
Kids crying in a hairdresser's chair is practically a rite of passage, as most parents will tell you. But this little tyke's reaction was on a whole other level.
As salon owner Jad Srour's video shows, the little boy, named Jude, had come into his Shanti Salon in Eilaboun, Israel to get his waist-length locks cut off for the first time. Suffice to say, it did not go well — not at first, anyway.
The child's parents had delayed their little boy's first haircut until he was five years old.
Srour's video shows Jude bursting into tears before the scissors have even been unsheathed. All it takes is for Srour to let his long, wavy hair down over his shoulders and Jude is inconsolable. Srour is able to get the boy calmed down, but it doesn't last long — once Srour finally cuts a huge, feet-long ponytail off Jude's head, he's right back where he started, wailing and disconsolate. So much so that his mother starts crying in the background too, and comes to console her son in the chair.
Srour soon gets the boy back into the spirit, and by the time the process is over, the little boy is elated with his cool new look. But on Instagram, many people were disturbed by how upset the boy seemed, and a round of parent shaming began.
"Why do this? The child obviously wasn’t happy with this," one person on Instagram wrote. "Did the kid WANT their hair cut?" another user indignantly asked. "Didn't seem like it... traumatizing, don't you think?" Another parent who was "speaking from experience with my little one" wondered if the boy "is autistic" or "had sensory issues" that weren't being properly accommodated, resulting in the haircut being so distressing.
Still, others assumed the boy was forced to have his hair cut because of gender standards. "Why did he have to cut his hair [when] he was clearly in pain about it?" another Instagrammer wrote. "Gender affirming means to accept your kid regardless and if that boy wanted long hair what is even wrong with it??" It turned out there was much more to the story.
Some cultures ceremonially delay a boy's first haircut until they are of a certain age.
Given Srour's salon's location in Israel, many assumed the little boy and his family were Jewish and had delayed the boy's first haircut for religious reasons.
Many Jewish cultures follow a tradition of delaying a boy's first haircut until the age of 3. At that age, a ceremony called an Upsherin is held, in which the boy's hair is cut for the first time. The ceremony is meant to mark a rite of passage, the Upsherin celebrates the time in life when a boy's "education takes a leap" and the move from "absorb[ing] their parents' love] to learning how to "produce and share their unique gifts."
As the Orthodox Jewish mom in the video below explains, the Upsherin is also often when a Jewish boy begins to learn things like the Hebrew alphabet, and it is when boys begin wearing a kippah, the traditional Jewish head covering also known as a yarmulke in Yiddish.
Many people on Instagram and TikTok pointed out this tradition to those who were distressed by the boy's reaction to his haircut and urged people to be less judgmental of his parents. "Lots of rude comments," one Instagrammer commented, "...the hairdresser is in Israel. Jewish boys are supposed to leave their hair untouched until they are 3... Not every culture is the same."
The little boy wanted to delay his first haircut so he could donate his hair to children with cancer.
It turned out, though, that everyone's concerns were unnecessary. As Srour explained in the comments of both his TikTok and Instagram posts, little Jude's parents decided to wait to get their little boy's first haircut just out of personal preference.
"He didn’t [cut his hair] before not because of any religious beliefs or traditions, it was his parents' personal choice," Srour wrote on Instagram. "When he began to ask about cutting his hair, his mom booked an appointment for him."
He went on to say that it was more than just a haircut for Jude. Not only was it also his fifth birthday, but he decided he wanted to donate his long, luscious locks to a special cause. "Jude wanted to donate his hair to children with cancer, so we did," Srour wrote. "We decided to record this very emotional and precious memory, and this video was the result."
He went on to say that "at the end, everyone was glad and happy, especially Jude," as anyone can see in the adorable ending of Srour's video—the little guy claps and waves as Srour spins his giant ponytail overhead like a helicopter in celebration. Hopefully, little Jude's triumphant first haircut can be an inspiration to all of us the next time we get one of those haircuts we instantly regret!
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers culture, social media and human interest topics.