Teacher tries novel way to counter class bullies

January 31-2014

TECHNIQUE — Teacher Mohammad-Ali Mohammadian sits with shaved head next to Mahan Rahimi, an eight-year-old student who lost his hair to illness. The teacher shaved his head in sympathy—and to try to counter the other boys in the class who were bullying Mahan because he was different. It worked. Now all the boys have shaved their heads (below) in sympathy.

A teacher in Kurdistan has made a gesture of compassion for a student who lost his hair to cancer by shaving his own head.

Mohammad-Ali Mohammadian shaved his head after noticing one of his students, Mahan Rahimi, 8, who lost his hair through cancer, was being bullied by his classmates at Sheikh Shaltoot elementary school in Marivan.

He posted a picture of himself with his newly shaved head, alongside the little boy and his classmates, on Facebook.

“Our heads are sensitive to hair,” he wrote on Facebook. “Mahan had become isolated after going bald, the smile had disappeared from his face and I was concerned about his class performance. That’s why I thought about shaving my head to get him back on track.”

The image was widely shared as word of Moham-madian’s gesture spread. Newspapers printed the story. Then national television picked it up. The teacher has now become a national hero. President Rohani has praised him, the government has offered financial support for the pupil’s medical treatment, and the teacher and boy have been brought to Tehran to receive national plaudits.

In Kurdistan, the 45-year-old teacher was named “hero of the week” by a local TV show, Paysh.

In a telephone interview with The Guardian of Britain, he said: “I’m so happy that this has touched so many hearts and people reacted enormously positively.”

He said his 23 other students soon wanted to shave their heads in solidarity with the young cancer victim. “I told them to wait until the winter’s cold was over, but when we came back from Tehran, they had all shaved,” he said. “This Saturday morning I stepped into the class and everyone had gone bald.”

Doctors at the Razi hospital in Tehran told state television that Mahan had problems with his immune system but they were investigating the exact nature of his ailment. According to the teacher, medics in Tehran have also sent samples to Germany for a possible diagnosis. “Mahan’s classmates have since become supportive of him and a smile is back on his face,” said the teacher.

Mohammadian has 23 years of teaching experience and has two daughters and a son.”