When elementary school teacher Shannon Grimm noticed that her students were bullying a classmate, she didn't resort to discipline ー she opted for empowerment. Five-year-old Priscilla was being mercilessly teased for a short haircut, so Grimm chopped her own waist-long locks in solidarity.

According to Grimm, her own son Lucas immediately told her "she looked like a boy" once he saw the cut. And that, she told Cheddar News, is precisely why she made the radical decision ー to show her students that boys and girls come in all shapes and sizes (and haircuts).

"As a teacher, I'm going to do whatever it takes for my students to be successful in the classroom. In order for them to be successful in the classroom, they need to be comfortable with you and feel safe in the classroom ー and Priscilla didn't feel safe," she told Cheddar News.

So how did her students react to the change in their teacher?

Some told her she resembled a boy, but many others told her she looked beautiful, Grimm said.

"We shouldn't be making fun of people based on how they look on the outside. I learned a lot about how kids might be perceived."