Gingerism - children bullied for being a Red Head or a Ginger Kid
Go back 20 years and it was quite rare to see a child with ginger hair. They stuck out like a sore thumb in the playground. I still remember now that we only ever had one ginger kid in my school. I never had a problem with her, she never done anything wrong to me, in fact she was a nice girl that never done anything wrong to anyone. Yet she was bullied throughout her entire school years and it still goes on now.
Twenty Years Later
Fast forward 20 years later and there are loads of kids with ginger hair, but still the bulling goes on. I was blonde as a child and still am now, I get my fair share of being called Blondie and the occasional blond joke but I was never bullied. So what’s the difference?
It’s Bullying
It’s seems that some people do not even consider it as bullying, but it is. It doesn’t stop with the hair colour; it leads on to them being bullied about a whole lot of other things as well, fingers pointing in all directions. Gingerism is as bad as racism, yet racism is held on a much higher regard when it comes to dealing with it in schools.
Fat or Thin, Tall or Short, Black or White, Rich or poor, Ginger or Red head; if you pick on someone for those reasons: Its bullying!
My Daughter Pays The Price For Being Ginger
My daughter has ginger hair and she’s the same as any child (just with a non average hair colour). It’s a dark ginger with a slight hint of brown in it, it’s a beautiful colour, some call her hair strawberry blonde, some call it auburn and some call it ginger. Either way she goes to hell and back for it.
She has been bullied for her entire way through junior school and now senior school. Even grown ups that she doesn’t know can’t resist shouting out and calling her names in the street. I only wish someone would sit them down and describe the hurt a bullied child feels and what effects it’s likely to have on them in the future. They do not realise how lonely and isolated it makes the children feel.
It’s No Joking Matter
Most people of can boast a good sense of humour and my daughter is no different, she can take a joke as much as the next person. But she can also tell the difference between something that is meant as humour and something that is meant to offend.
She is extremely strong minded and she pulls out all the stops to overcome what mindless things that people put her through. Not all children can do that though and some kids have gone on to commit suicide over the taunts that they have experienced.
Its Soul Destroying
It is heartbreaking to see your young child sat there in front of you crying their eyes out, telling you that they want to dye their hair and move so that they can start a fresh and fit in with a brand new hair colour. It’s painful when they tell you they feel that they don’t like who they are purely because of other people.
It’s sad that some people see this as acceptable!
It’s More Accepted In Grown Ups
A bazaar turn in the trauma and suffering that the kids go through is that many grown ups pay a huge amount of money to regularly dye their hair ginger or become a red head because it’s seen as sexy and attractive, so why is it so unattractive and such a burden when they are young?
Quotes
- A lot of people are afraid to tell the truth, to say no. That's where toughness comes into play. Toughness is not being a bully. It's having backbone. - Robert Kiyosaki
- Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. - Judy Garland
- The most exhausting thing in life is being insincere. - Anne Morrow Lindbergh
- Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortunes; but great minds rise above them - Washington Irving
