Russell Frederick is co-owner of A-1 Kutz, a suburban Atlanta barbershop where he also works full-time. In addition to being a business owner and barber he’s also a father of three. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “out of adversity comes opportunity,” and one day last fall Russell Frederick put those words – and his clippers – into action.
Fed up with his 12-year-old son’s bad grades, Frederick sat the boy down and proceeded to shave all the hair off the crown of his head, leaving the sides intact as to resemble the appearance of a balding old man. Knowing his son’s new ‘do would garner the type of ridicule only adolescent boys can provide, Frederick sent him to school the next day hoping that would be enough motivation to improve his academics.
Not only did the plan work, Frederick says his son’s grades “dramatically skyrocketed.” Shortly thereafter Frederick announced via social media that he would transform unruly boys into grumpy old men three days a week, free of charge. It wasn’t long before he got his first customer in the form of a frustrated single mother. The woman asked that her 10-year old receive what has come to be known as the “Benjamin Button Special,” and the hilarious results quickly went viral after the barber posted a before-and-after image of the visibly annoyed child online.
It’s not clear whether it was the image being viewed by millions on the internet or the haircut itself, but the boy returned four days later to repair the damage after his mother saw an improvement in his behavior.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Frederick acknowledged that the disciplinary haircut has received some backlash but so far the positive feedback has outweighed the negative.
“There are a few people that are saying it’s emotional abuse; but on average, everyone is applauding the mother that brought the child in ? and applauding me as well.”
A handful of articles about the “Benjamin Button Special,” such as the one from the Washington Post as well as the Huffington Post, have included insights from therapists who work with children on behavioral issues. For the most part they conclude that this type of public shaming is actually counter-productive, but Frederick argues that sometimes certain measures have to be taken to deal with children of that age:
“Parents are at a loss. When you go to discipline kids these days, they can’t necessarily use physical punishment they way parents did in the past, but they have to do something.”
He went further in explaining that parents should look elsewhere before coming to his barbershop for help:
“I hope that most people won’t have to do this unless it’s an extreme circumstances and nothing else is working. First, you talk or implement your restrictions. But when the conventional ways don’t work these days, you have to get creative.”
It appears that the mere sight of the “Benjamin Button Special” is enough of a deterrent for now; besides his son and the poor kid who became internet famous overnight, Frederick hasn’t given any other old man haircuts. While there is something to the argument that any short-term benefits of such discipline could be harmful in the long run, children don’t necessarily need the first-hand experience of a mortifying haircut to know they should avoid it at all costs.
It was around the same time Frederick came up with his idea that NFL superstar Adrian Peterson was making headlines after being indicted on child abuse charges. An embarrassing haircut and corporal punishment are obviously at complete opposite ends of the spectrum, but this is precisely what should remind us that some things don’t need to become a ‘thing’. Experts in the field of psychotherapy are experts for a reason, and their statements undoubtedly hold significant weight, but in this situation Russel Frederick’s intentions were neither malicious nor mean-spirited and shouldn’t be construed any other way.
