A mum claims bullies have forced her 12-year-old ginger-haired son out of school.I wonder which is the greater spur to the rabble, the latter, or the former?
Emma Walsh says she will not let her middle child, Tyler, return to Yate International Academy following an attack last week.
Ms Walsh alleges that Tyler has been a target for bullies ever since he started secondary school 18 months ago, because of his hair colour and because he is keen to learn.
Naturally, this being 21st century Britain, the notion that the thugs themselves be punished and removed from the school is anathema. No, it must be the victim:
She is angry that the school's response to the latest incident was to suspend the attacker for one day – and to suggest that her son attend its pupil inclusion unit, for vulnerable students.That’s a brilliant wheeze to get around the problem of having too many excluded pupils, isn’t it? Keep them in school, and ‘exclude’ everyone else within school grounds!
Tyler, who is in Year 8, was set upon by some Year 10 students and chased into a toilet cubicle where he "freaked out" and had to be rescued by a Year 11 student.Awwww, bless! We can’t possibly punish him, can we, if he’s having a bad day, poor little lamb…
Ms Walsh, 33, a full-time mother, of Wellstead Avenue, said her son had been extremely distressed by the incident, which she had been told happened after the perpetrator "had a bad day" and took it out on the first person he came across.
"I don't feel my son will be safe at school so I am keeping him at home until he can start at another school next week. I will be tutoring him at home."No, it’s not ‘like’ they are punishing him – they are punishing him!
Ms Walsh said the academy had told her it would not send work home for Tyler because it was felt that this would be condoning his absence.
"It is like they are punishing him," she said.
Mr Gilbert said in a statement: "Having taken account of all persons' views in this matter the academy has managed the issues raised in accordance with our clearly defined policies and protocols. This has included seeking clarifications from external bodies such as the Education Welfare Service."Perfect! Who cares that your school is now a laughing stock, you ‘followed procedure’. You must be so proud…
When did this ginger hating start, and why? It wasn't an issue 30 years ago.
ReplyDeleteJB, yes it was. I think it's a historic thing because witches allegedly had red hair, or possibly it's anti-Irish or Scottish. Or possibly because ginger people look a bit funny.
ReplyDeleteIt got worse around the time the word 'minging' came into being.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter was getting a bit of teasing/labelling over her ginger hair and so lately she's started using some of my wash-in dark brown hair dye, and now it's stopped.
Not that the name calling she had is in the same category as getting attacked and then being excluded from school for it!
Ginger hating? Oh, get real!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a red-head or any other 'supposed' minority but still managed to be bullied for a period at school (until I 'lost it' and stood up for myself - and yes I did get punished for 'protecting' myself).
Kids (and adults to be honest) will, if they decide to 'bully' someone, find a trait about the person they target different from themselves and focus on that.
So if you're tall, short, black, white, male, female, wear glasses, are intellectual,..... ad infinitum, that's what they'll label you.
The 'ginger hating issue' started when the 'victim mentality' started and instead of blaming the perpetrator the attacks were subtly supported by justifying them. Why? because the victim was member of some minority, and therefore different.
The issue that nobody mentions is the more modern trend that instead of a bully (with perhaps some hangers-on) it is now large groups of them. The same has happened in fights, whereas even as recently as my youth (in the Cretaceous) it would be two individuals squaring up, now it is usually at least five against one. Why I cannot understand.
So he wasn't picked on for being a ginger, he was picked on because of who he is, and they called him a ginger because he is, and they aren't. (Me I was lanky, specky, upper-band (?) - at least until I broke his nose and dislocated his elbow - ooops)
The thing that chills me is the statement from (presumably) the head/principal/CEO. So impersonal. Pretty much inhuman, in fact.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's the same in every field. When did each and every public sector worker turn into an automaton? I'm pretty sure they didn't talk like that when I was a kid (and I'm not that old).
Bandit has this one spot on. Protocol droids are so sweet in the films! (Aco)
ReplyDeleteIf only the ginger child and parents would 'engage' with the school?
ReplyDeleteRanter,email Julia and get in touch with me.
ReplyDeleteJaded - can't break cover! They're watching me, daren't risk it! Nasty old business!
ReplyDelete'When did this ginger hating start, and why? It wasn't an issue 30 years ago.'
ReplyDeleteI've often wondered about that, JB. I think it's an off-shoot of the ridiculous obsession with 'racism'.
Like all Leftie ideas this has made a small issue much worse by sensitising kids to anyone that's even a tiny bit different.
Hence a plague of bullying on a scale unheard of a generation ago.
But it all means more work for that army of public sector robots we love so well.
Ginger were alwayas noted.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand 'Ginger' was a trusted friend and flyer with Biggles and you can't get better than that
I think the school authorities are wise to be cautious. If you're not careful you'll get gingers thinking they can get up to any old malarkey unpunished, and that way lies madness. The ginger menace needs to be nipped in the bud. This kid looks to be a daywalker, and they're the most dangerous of the lot.
ReplyDeletewhat the ginger ninja night walker is less of a threat i think not sir
ReplyDelete'When did this ginger hating start, and why? It wasn't an issue 30 years ago.'
ReplyDeleteIt has the feel of something that children have learnt from the American trash TV stuff they watch. But that's just a guess.
Oh Who Is That Young Sinner
ReplyDeleteOh who is that young sinner with the handcuffs on his wrists?
And what has he been after that they groan and shake their fists?
And wherefore is he wearing such a conscience-stricken air?
Oh they're taking him to prison for the colour of his hair.
'Tis a shame to human nature, such a head of hair as his;
In the good old time 'twas hanging for the colour that it is;
Though hanging isn't bad enough and flaying would be fair
For the nameless and abominable colour of his hair.
Oh a deal of pains he's taken and a pretty price he's paid
To hide his poll or dye it of a mentionable shade;
But they've pulled the beggar's hat off for the world to see and stare,
And they're haling him to justice for the colour of his hair.
Now 'tis oakum for his fingers and the treadmill for his feet
And the quarry-gang on Portland in the cold and in the heat,
And between his spells of labour in the time he has to spare
He can curse the God that made him for the colour of his hair.
A.E. Housman
" Or possibly because ginger people look a bit funny."
ReplyDeleteNot as funny as seals.
"Kids (and adults to be honest) will, if they decide to 'bully' someone, find a trait about the person they target different from themselves and focus on that."
Spot on. An d a lot of 'racism' is the same.
Do you call that woman a 'black bitch' because you are a secret white supremacist, or because she's just taken the last copy of the 'Metro' and her appearance is the first thing that comes to mind?
"The thing that chills me is the statement from (presumably) the head/principal/CEO. So impersonal. Pretty much inhuman, in fact."
Standard boilerplate 'management speak'.
"Jaded - can't break cover!"
ReplyDeleteIf Jaded puts an email address link in his Google profile, you can contact each other directly!
"A.E. Housman"
Cheery soul, wasn't he?