We Can All Learn From This Dad's Heartwarming Message

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Remember the phrase, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me?" Well, it was wrong. Words do hurt and you don’t have to be a victim of bullying to understand that. But one dad is trying his best to make his son — and everyone else — know that you don’t have to feed into the negativity.

Dad, Isaac Irvine, posted a video to Facebook last week in which he asks his 9-year-old son Bodi Irvine what he was bullied about at school. His son replies, “So I was going to my line, then two boys passed me and then they made fun of me [about my long hair]." To make the situation even more upsetting than it already is, the sweet kid is actually growing his hair out to donate it to people who lost their hair to cancer treatment. “It’s pretty long, dude. It’s pretty awesome," his father said before accepting his cutest-ever dad award.

Isaac goes on to ask Bodi how being bullied made him feel. As you can guess: pretty damn sad. (Okay, the middle school kid didn’t say that, but we feel the sentiment.). Isaac affirmed Bodi for letting the comments roll off his back and not getting into a fight. He then tells his son that even he gets bullied about his tattoos. Since the video was posted a week ago, it has over 4.5 million views, and Isaac hopes his message carries on.

“I would encourage parents to listen to their kids and help them understand that they have the strength and courage to overcome the hurt of verbal bullying,” Isaac told Mic after the video gained some traction. His final thoughts on bullies: “They only have power over you that you allow them to have in your heart.” And while we all hope bullying — cyber and otherwise —comes to an end, it's great to have dads like Isaac reminding kids (and everyone else) of their worth.