Teacher Saves the Day by Styling Her Student’s Hair After She Was Teased

Random acts of kindness can be hard to come by, but when these events happen, they deserve to be honored. One amazing example of this — which social media is heavily applauding — starts with a loving youth counselor and ends with her giving one of her students a new hairstyle for the most heartfelt reason.

Briana Jackson, a Pittsburgh-based youth development counselor and catering business owner, shared a photo of a girl sitting down, taken from behind, with her hair box braided and styled with two topknots and gold accessories. Jackson’s caption read, “I have a student that was tired of being teased by her peers for never having her hair done so I hooked her up (w/mom’s permission).”

People on social media instantly fell in love with the post, which has received more than 77,000 likes and more than 19,000 retweets.

Additionally, her good deed inspired more than 500 comments, with people praising her efforts to help her student. One person wrote, “Her hair is beautiful. Thank you for lifting her spirits!” Another person noted, “Teachers like you are so important. Mom used to sob over not being able to do her hair herself. Thank you for caring loving ur students.”

A few more (out of hundreds) of the comments went like this:

As a development specialist, Jackson has the pleasure of working with many young girls, but she developed a close enough relationship with one student in particular in which Jackson can easily tell if something seems off. “My student has been in my group for about a year or so,” she shared with Yahoo Beauty. “I have worked closely with her on building her self-esteem, social skills, and strengthening her grades. I am glad that she feels close enough to me to talk through any issues she is having.”

The counselor noticed how frustrated her student was about not having her hair done and other girls teasing her about it almost daily. Feeling uneasy about her student being teased by others, Jackson figured she would do something to help change that and put a smile on her student’s face. She “hooked her up” with a cool hairstyle that changed things for the better.

“She was very happy, instantly more confident, and wouldn’t stop flipping her hair,” Jackson says of her student’s new outlook. The counselor was also happy to share that her peers started showering her with admiration for the new look as well. “Her peers gave her a lot of compliments, and she was even invited to hang with a group she usually doesn’t hang with during our big field trip,” Jackson says.

The student’s experience hit home for Jackson, who reflected on her own adolescent hair experience. “I also used to get teased when I was younger about not having my hair done, so I made it a point to learn how to do hair,” she shares with Yahoo Beauty. “I have been doing my own hair since high school, and I don’t go to any salons. I also do hair for others. I became natural in 2009 and have been teaching friends about their natural hair as well as my students.”

Jackson’s gesture has made everyone from her student’s mom to strangers happy about the confidence boost she helped create. Her advice for anyone going through a similar situation: “I would tell them that they are beautiful no matter how they decide to wear their hair, and not to let negative people get to them. I would also say that it is OK to want to have your hair styled so you look and feel your best. However, more importantly than hair, is your education and personal goals!”

Can there be more counselors like Jackson in the world? Kudos!

Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty:

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