Mother's heart breaks when 3-year-old ginger son asks 'Why don't people like my horrible hair Mummy?'

'It isn't okay to bully somebody for their hair colour, not now. Not ever.'

Southampton mother, Lauren Russel, witnessed her 3-year-old son being bullied by teenagers over the color of his hair. Furious and heart-broken, Russel took to Facebook to write an emotional message asking users to spread awareness of bullying and to show her son that the color of his hair is beautiful, not something to be ashamed of.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Russel boarded a bus with her son, Noah Gilbert, when they heard teenagers in school uniforms say hurtful comments loud enough for mother and son to hear. 

The comments included, "I would hate my child to be ginger, I would kill it" and "All kids with ginger hair should go straight to social services." 

Following the boy's comments on the bus, Russel said, "I saw Noah staring at him and he'd definitely taken the comments on board, so I said to the boy, 'How dare you?' But all he said was he hadn't noticed my son was ginger. He only looked about 13. That was what worried me the most - that a schoolboy can turn around and say something so cruel.

When they got home, Noah asked Russel why he couldn't be blonde like his older brother, Charlie.
Noah even asked Charlie why he had "horrible hair," but Charlie simply replied Noah's hair was "beautiful."

Hurt and angry, Russel took to her Facebook account, where she posed a lengthy message that reads:

"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 to [sic] have ginger hair and no [sic] all too well what it's like to grow up being singled out/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 [sic] 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"

The post went viral and people showed their support through personal messages, comments and images of their own red-haired children. The post has so far received over 18,000 likes and some comments have compared Noah to Ed Sheeran, Prince Harry and Damian Lewis.

"Noah's now really aware of his hair colour and thinks it's horrible," Russel said. "He doesn't understand why he isn't blond like his siblings. I couldn't believe these spiteful teenagers could upset my son like that. Since sharing what happened on Facebook, I've had hundreds of people messaging me from the UK, all showing support and saying how gorgeous Noah is. When I read all the nice comments to him, his face was priceless."

"He has never mentioned his hair colour in the past. It has never been a problem for him before. When he learned his colours he would say his hair was "orange", but that wasn't something to be bothered about."

"I hope he'll be able to forget the nasty remarks now, but I still want an apology from the teenage boy. I've already contacted the high school he goes to so that he can say sorry to Noah in person."

There is no news yet on whether the teen was successfully sought-out or if he will be apologizing to young Noah.

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