Kick a Ginger day

I'd rather have a natural redhead anyday than one of those ridiculously coloured/dyed " beetroot " heads !

Apparently it is a recognised day ,yet another import from America

No, it's NOT a recognised day. Stop giving it status. Fools thrive on the oxygen of publicity.

It's a day dreamed up in the head of some twisted, immature idiot who put it out on his/her computer, and it was taken up by other juvenile fools.

Any school worth it's salt would nip any such activity in the bud.

I hated my hair growing up, as a strawberry blond child, it turned to ginger, then a chestnut brown by the time my children were born, it went much darker when I was pregnant, apparently this is a thing. Then as I got older back to ginger, then strawberry blond, now it's a pale strawberry blond with white highlights. People are always asking me what I use on it and don't believe me when I say nothing.

My youngest son was bullied at school for his reddish hair, that was thanks to Chris Evans, who seemed to find teasing 'gingers' (with a hard 'g') funny. Anyone remember that?

For years he used to die it black, which looked awful with his pale skin. Now he just keeps it very short, with the odd grey patches coming in!

Well that’s interesting my husband is a redhead not the g word please, that’s for recepies.
Spent most of his time in the school playground fighting with kids who called him g.
Nothing changes then my h is 77 in January.

Hello all,( especially Jalima1108). I live across the pond in Canada. I have NEVER heard of kick a Ginger day, and it would get very very short shrift if it appeared here.
Please be very careful about overgeneralising. If you can provide proof that such a day exists in Canada, I will be the first to apologise for taking umbrage.

It was a website I saw NannaM. I'll try to find it again but I didn't link to it because I didn't think it should be advertised.
This wasn't the site, the one I saw said it was on a calendar!
bc.ctvnews.ca/kick-a-ginger-day-has-redheads-running-scared-1.344620

From 2011:
www.news.com.au/national/teenage-girl-beaten-by-classmates-in-canada-on-kick-a-ginger-day/news-story/41f458fc58831a4e47ee89f6605f8132?sv=fb3471ad73c1b7dd63436979c101cfbc

and from another website 2008:
"In 2008, a Facebook group was made in Canada entitled 'Kick a Ginger Day.' The inspiration for the group came from an episode in South Park called 'Ginger Kids.' Thousands of redheads were kicked, hundreds of arrests were made. A brave redhead took over the group, and changed the name to 'National Hug a Ginger Day.' There is talk of 'gingerism' being the latest form of accepted discrimination. On February 22nd, hug a ginger. Stop the discrimination. Be happy... and eat good food."

Even hug a ginger smacks of discrimination.

I meant that it is a day recognised by school children not a day that is officially recognised.Perhaps I should have been more careful in choosing my words but I wanted to get my thoughts down quickly.

My DGS was bullied at school last year on 'Kick a Ginger Day'. I don't know if anything happened this year, I just hope the school is now more aware.

I have two red headed daughters, now 47 and 39. The elder daughter has two daughters, one strawberry blonde and one very dark titian hair.

About 40 years ago daughter one came home from school very upset because a boy had called her “ginger biscuit”.

The advent of Kick a Ginger Day bought forth some Facebook and Internet teasing but thankfully they had both left school by then. The friend who mentioned it first went on to marry a red headed man and has two red headed children herself now.

I personally love red hair, both my mother and sister had it but it bypassed me. I cannot imagine how upsetting it is for today’s red headed children to be afraid to go to school. How cruel to start such an idea. Surely schools who are so proud of their anti bullying policies can deal severely with this.

Jalima - I object to your lumping Canada in with the US in a blanket condemnation. Do you honestly think that if "thousands of redheads were kicked, hundreds of arrests made" in Canada, there would not have been a world-wide outcry? You are quoting a 10year old FaceBook entry, a 7 year old Australian post, and all of this stems from a satirical 2005 adult TV show????
This is the worst of Fake News.
If you want to see how the real Canada looks at school bullying, then look up the origins of Pink Shirt Day, which is now honoured all over the world, has UN declaration status, and which started in Nova Scotia, Canada. Here's the info on Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Bullying_Day
Please don't lump Canada in with the US. Especially with the current US Administration there is a huge divide between the two nations which will take many many years to heal after the present POTUS has left office.
I'm not saying that school bullying never happens here. We are in the middle of a huge scandal at a prestigious private school in Ontario where 8 pupils have just been expelled, and criminal investigations and charges have been laid. But schools all over Canada have incredibly strict anti bullying policies in place and when bullying is uncovered, the police and Childrens Services step in swiftly. The problem with the current Ontario private school situation is that because the school is private, prestigious and elitist, the rules that apply to government schools were circumvented here. After this, Canadian legislation will change to include Private Schools, that's for sure. (Apparently there is a divide between the UK state school and the private school in this arena as well. www.gov.uk/bullying-at-school)
We are on the same side here. No child should be bullied at school for whatever reason. It's up to the adults to ensure that our kids are safe.

I had never heard of ginger minger until a nephew was born - why would anyone think hair colour was a reason to rubbish someone? Aren’t all kids gorgeous?

Greenfinch, I do not think this is an import from America and I am sorry to read this in your comment. Bullying of any sort is unacceptable, as is prejudice. In this case, the school should have taken steps immediately to stop it and to find out how it started and what children were involved, both perpetrators and victims. As for the internet influence, there are certain steps that can be taken to limit the content of what children can view, however this rule does not apply in everyone's home. I have worked in schools with a zero tolerance to bullying and I am part of a charity that trains school staff how to prevent and stop bullying, and when this ethic is consistently practiced in word and in deed by teachers (and parents), there is a significant reduction in that type of behaviour. It is useless to try to blame other people/countries/internet for something that has been sadly happening for generations: it is much more useful to do our part in stopping it as individuals and as a society.

I just hope this thread isn't either going to "Highlight" the apparently KAGD lets just hope it dissapears into the background without it hitting the Media as like some stuff on Gn does.

I'm not saying that if! it does appears it should be swept under the carpet, but putting it on gn is giving it media attention.

I have a red headed dd and a lovely auburn haired 12 yr old gs. He was later coming home than usual and of course my mind was running riot after keep reading this thread today..

My opinion is to let the matter dissapear before some oddballs think it is fine and to do what they want.

When my dd arrived I asked her had she heard anything about it? she said no.

Why do we always take on the worse 'fads' from the USA?We never had 'trick or treat' until it became fashionable to follow America. However, this new one is absolutely dreadful and should be stamped out immediately. I know the Headmistress at my grandson's school would never tolerate it.

An update on my DGC's school.Many parents complained to the Head that their children came home with bruises yesterday and today each year group had a special assembly to deal with the problem.Tough measures were taken.

I am sorry that you feel this is an inappropriate thread bikergran.You obviously have a very different concept of Gransnet than I have.

I am aghast. This is one of the worst school crazes and acts of bullying and picking on people I have heard of. It needs an extremely firm taking in hand. I certainly hope the school authorities have given a very strong message about the wickedness of kicking and picking on people for any reason at all.
I do wonder, having been a teacher in the 1970s, whether we are not strict enough at school now? I was very kind and listened to children and explained things but I always made it abundantly clear where the line was and what the rules were about how we treat each other. There was no ambiguity. I do not think any of the children would have dared to try kicking another child in my school. They would have had to be very sly about it so as not to be caught and I am sure other children would have reported them immediately as it was considered a terrible thing to do.

Awful, isn’t it Greenfinch do hope your DGS wasn’t picked on that day?

Greenfinch I didn't say it was inappropiate, of course things need to brought to our attention, what I was saying that for those who hadn't heard of this day then they may suddenly think ..ohh lets be off to school and do it.

As I say my dd had heard nothing (whos son is my gs with the auburn hair)

My other dd who is 40 odd and the red head, mentioned this certain "day" many years ago to me, I never gave it another thought as I thought it had faded away.

VintageLace Thanks for what you said. I couldn't agree more. We used to talk about the ethos of a school, and how this was at the heart of how the children behaved and treated each other. It is about consistency, discussing how we treat each other, having a clear policy about what is not acceptable and creating an atmosphere of inclusion with systems such as "buddying" and having a "Playmate please" area at playtime to encourage this.

I had never heard of this day until this year which was probably why I felt so horrified.I used to wonder why my AC and their friends always hoped they would not have children with ginger hair as they would be bullied at school.I thought they were exaggerating but perhaps not.

To repeat - this trend originally came from a tv programme which was intended to warn people of the dangers of this kind of thing.
I once saw a video of a sociological experiment in a USA high school. Using tv etc, and the voice of some fictional 'expert', the pupils were gradually drawn into distaste for those of their classmates who were 'different'. Eventually these poor teens were persecuted by their peers.
The crunch came when the probable identity of the 'expert' was revealed. Any guesses?

Being fair haired he was pretty safe lemongrove.In fact he seemed quite oblivious of it all and being well supported,he seems to be getting on OK.

NannaM I can feel your frustration and indignation! I thought therefore it was worth saying that I doubt very much if many people ever think that Canada has anything in common with the USA! Indeed when Trump was so insistent that he would build the wall by Mexico, on a UK comedy show "The Last Leg" they had a system on the internet for people to pledge a brick for Canada so that Canada could build a wall between itself and Trump's America!
There is a divide between the Private Schools and what they can do under the law compared with the State schools in Britain. Indeed my own daughter was severely bullied in a private school but they got away with it. She was there only because of the death of her father. As it happens she was a pale ginger haired child. Anyway, she left and we moved and she went to a straight forward state comprehensive and did very well indeed thank God. I think the private school system will always get preferential treatment because those in power are using it, it is as simple as that.
You write beautifully, I love your eloquence. It is up to the adults to protect the children from bullying. Sadly that is sometimes extraordinarily difficult. I am thinking especially of the senior school teenagers. The victim will often hide that they are being targeted and the bullies are very sly. The journey too and from school, an education in itself, is a feeding ground for the bullies. Some parents almost inadvertently teach their children to bully by telling them to stand up for themselves and be tough etc. Girls, in my experience, are more sinister bullies than boys and extraordinarily cunning and cruel.
But I have never heard of the bully a red-head day, maybe we should raise the issue so it may be thoroughly crushed once and for all and any bully targeting a red-head or 'ginger' will be openly recognised for the evil-minded nasty brat they are and made to feel how disgusting that behaviour is.
bikergran Rather than not talking about it, we should hi- light the issue because unless it is brought out into the open it will not be addressed. Children will not think it's a good idea just by hearing about it because they will be hearing how horrified everyone is at the malicious behaviour of those bullies using it as an excuse to pick on a specific group of people and hurt them, which is illegal in fact. The children will learn how everyone regards such behaviour as most disgusting and horrible and hates people who do it. They may not find it so attractive or think it would be fun then. Above all, by discussing it, children learn to think about others and what it would be like if someone hurt them. It is by bringing things into the open that we progress and make things better.