National Kick a Ginger Day
November 20th was “National Kick a Ginger Day,” according to a Facebook group that called for people to “Get them steel toes ready.” The group quickly amassed over 5,000 members. The Facebook group is believed to be based on a 2005 episode of the television show South Park, in which one of the characters, Cartman, “claimed that people with red hair, light skin and freckles have no souls and suffer from a disease called ‘Gingervitis,’ ” the Los Angeles Times reports. Eleven children at A.E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas, CA were victims of “ginger bashing,” having been physically or verbally abused “because of their red hair, freckles and pale complexions,” according to the Los Angeles Times. Two 12-year-old boys have been arrested and charged with “battery on school property because of the cumulative incidents through the day,” and a 13-year-old boy was arrested for “cyber-bullying—making a threat via the Internet—because of his written response to a Facebook invitation to the Nov. 20 spree, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. John Benedict,” LATimes.Com reports. This is not just a United States phenomenon. In Canada, over 20 students at Journey Middle School in Sooke, B.C. “were suspended for a day after shocked teachers received complaints they were kicking redheads,” Canada.com states. Other schools in Vancouver Island also reported incidents. Ironically, as Canada.com notes, National Kick a Ginger Day occurred during international Bullying Awareness Week.
- Who is responsible for stopping and preventing bullying? Students? Teachers? Other school officials? Parents? What measures can students, teachers, school officials, and parents take to stop and prevent bullying?
- In response to “Kick a Ginger Day,” Andrew Cohen, a senior at New Community Jewish High School in Augora Hills, California, started a Facebook group to promote “Hug a Ginger Day” on December 8th. Three “Hug a Ginger Day” Facebook groups have already amassed a total of over 12,000 members. What do you think of this response?
- As reported by Contra Costa Times, Andrew Cohen said “the incidents are more than just a prank. ‘I use the example of the Holocaust, and how it started as small acts of discrimination and then escalated to a much larger problem. . . . We can’t take these things lightly. This is a hate crime.’ ” What is a hate crime? Do you agree with Cohen that those who adhered to “Kick a Ginger Day” committed a hate crime? Is the Holocaust analogy appropriate?
- LATimes.com reports that the South Park episode that “National Kick a Ginger Day” is based on was, ironically, “supposed to be a lesson in tolerance,” and, as superintendent Donald Zimring said, the episode “was in fact underscoring how hurtful, destructive and horrible bigotry is.’ ” The show was intended to be satirical, playing off “virally-spread events aimed at Jews, homosexuals and other minorities.” Unfortunately, as some experts say, “satire can be lost on the young.” What is the definition of a “satire”? Why might it be easy to misinterpret something satirical for something concrete?
- The 14-year-old administrator of the “National Kick a Ginger Day” Facebook page said he only meant it to be a joke. What is the danger in making such jokes? Why do you think some people took his message seriously? If you could speak to the creator of that page, what would you want to say to him?
- As Marty Kaplan asks in The Jewish Journal, “Now that our nation has observed ‘Kick a Ginger Day’ and ‘Kick a Jew Day,’ can ‘Kick a Liberal Day’ be far behind?” What point is Kaplan trying to make by asking this question?
- As reported in an article by Canada.com, cyber-bullying is an increasingly prominent problem among today’s youth. Criminology professor Brenda Morrison, “who has written extensively on bullying, said social networking websites such as Facebook or MySpace provide conduits that make bullying in school much easier, as they allow for information to be spread rapidly and with little supervision from adults or authorities.” Do you agree with Professor Morrison? What can be done to help prevent cyber-bullying? What is an appropriate response to cyber-bullying?
