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Polling Booth: “Kick a Ginger” Controversy

By Marc Lostracco


Inspired by a 2005 South Park episode in which redheads are satirized as a target for baseless oppression, a bunch of kids at a Burlington elementary school thought it would be hilarious to hold their own “Kick a Ginger Day” last Friday. Allegedly, up to twenty-eight kids ganged up on four of their redheaded peers and kicked them, though not hard enough to warrant medical attention. About half of the aggressors were suspended for a week, but according to the Star, some of the parents are protesting the suspensions, saying either that their perfect angels weren’t involved, or that it was all in good fun. Coming up next: Kick a Four-Eyed Freak Day, followed by an experiment to see who jumps off a cliff once all their friends have done it.

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  • http://undefined Peter K

    Stuff like this has been happening for as long as we’ve had schools.
    While ganging up like this is not appropriate, neither was the severity of the suspensions. Kids need to learn to deal with a harsh world. Churning out a generation of coddled sniveling twerps isn’t going to get us any further ahead.

  • CanadianSkeezix

    A week’s suspension is not the end of the world. The only sniveling twerps are the parents who don’t seem to think that their children should have to face serious ramifications for their actions.

  • http://undefined Gloria

    I don’t know many people treat suspensions like some kind of horrific, taboo punishment. it means you don’t get to go school for a few days. It’s probably the most passive form of punishment available.
    Length sounds about right. Do you remember elementary school? Yeah, it doesn’t move very fast. Making you stay home for two days isn’t a punishment; it’s a vacation. Five days throws you out of the loop just long enough to mean something.
    Some parents lose perspective. They need to remember that elementary school is only a part of their kid’s long, long journey down the road of education. Every snag, like a week’s suspension, seems really huge now, but eventually, this will mean nothing. Your kid did a jerkish thing, the school may have overreacted a little but not a lot, get over it. Focus on making your kid a better student and citizen than fighting these silly battles.

  • http://undefined Mark Ostler

    A more active form of punishment would be to have the kids (the active ones/instigators and the passive observers who just watched whatever happened unfold) each write an essay about what they think “Kick a Ginger Day” would accomplish, why they thought it was a good idea and why they think others might find it completely inappropriate. Gives them more work, gets them thinking and could provide the school’s admin and possibly the kids’ parents with an insight into the minds of the kids who encouraged and/or didn’t stop the incident.

  • http://undefined McKingford

    Yes, the absence of beatings (but for redheads only, apparently) is what leads to coddled sniveling twerps.
    You know who thinks the only way to learn about the harsh world is through assault? Psychopaths. Congratulations Peter K, you are today’s psychopath!

  • http://undefined Peter K

    I was trying to illustrate that we get too worked up as a society about these minor schoolyard tussles and begin crying BULLYING BULLYING. No of course these kids shouldn’t have done this, but it’s probably nowhere near the most serious thing that’s happened at this school this year.
    If this were a just world the parents of these kids would get a kicking for not teaching them any better.
    Maybe if the parents spanked their kids a little more they would have a clue ;)

  • http://undefined Loozrboy

    Could be worse: Kick a Jew Day

  • http://undefined TOgal

    Why would that necessarily be “worse”?

  • http://undefined amberherself

    This should be taken seriously. Assault is assault. Any little kid that goes around kicking and hurting others is a big problem. They should learn the consequences of their actions now before shit gets real. Maybe the teacher should do the “Blue Eye/Brown Eye” experiment in class to show them how discrimination hurts everyone.
    FULL DISCLOSURE- I’m a red head, and although I never got physically hurt becaues of it, I grew up hating my appearance and thought I as ugly for having red hair. I feel sad for these Gingers. Of course now everyone loves my hair. Strange how things work out.

  • http://undefined lunarworks

    While it has been blown out of proportion, what the kids did was stupid and wrong. Imagine if it had been “Kick a N—– Day”. Hate promotion is hate promotion.

  • http://undefined Peter K

    WAAAAAAAAH! WAAAAAAAAH!
    Sorry. I thought it was “Kick an International Bad Parent Day”.

  • http://undefined canuck1975

    A good friend of mine is a parent of one of the kids who was suspended. It’s my understanding that ONE child acted out the aggression and the other 5-6 (or how ever many) were witnesses to it, and the rest just happened to be there for whatever reason. All 25 were suspended though.
    My friend’s child’s suspension was reduced to one day because he didn’t try to stop it. That’s a legitimate and fair punishment.
    My friend told me about the kid who actually kicked someone, and the fractured house he lives in and abusive parents raising him. My question to her, if what she was saying was not based on rumour and gossip, is why isn’t anyone calling CPS and getting that one kid out of his toxic environment?
    To the rest of you, the way the school handled the situation was incredibly foolish. They called an assembly and, without saying why, asked the 25 kids to stand up, then without anything but the word of the kid who was kicked (wrong, no matter why) and a few other kids, berated them and suspended them all at once.
    I wouldn’t say this was blown out of proportion – it was wrong, completely, no question – but having more facts might put it into better perspective.