Can any one share some experiences or lead me towards articles and statistics?
Thanks in advance.
Ok, This question is not really being answered the way I had hoped. I don't have a son who is being picked on. I do have a very strong, confident child. I agree that no matter what you look like you can be successful. I am however, aware of human behavior & I've seen the brown eyed/blue eye experiment. I'm asking the question bc I've noticed some strange behavior among his peers.
Kathleen, your right about the age thing. In my experience, being tall for a girl isn't great in high school bc you tower over the boys but it is a plus the rest of your life after high school.
HIs hair isn't red red, its more auburn. THe color women pay big bucks for.
When I was in kindergarten, there was a little boy with BRIGHT red hair and glasses. I seriously wanted to marry him! :) I can't remember his name, I just remember being in awe of him.
I think some kids seek out the "weaker" kids no matter what color their hair, eyeglasses, etc. I had red hair and glasses and never got teased, always had lots of friends, was a cheerleader etc. I was also a very confident person so I think that went a long way in not becoming a target.
kids are mean and will find any reason to be mean whether its glasses, red hair, braces, too skinny, too fat, too tall, too short, etc.
I grew up with bright red hair and many, many freckles...not a cute splattering of freckles across the nose, but a polkadot face. I was teased unmercifully...by adults, not by kids. I was a pretty shy kid but I had friends and did fine. Middle school was tougher and it was one more thing that made be feel awkward along with the braces - but a lot of adolescents feel that way. Build self esteem every chance you get!! Once you are an adult, the red hair becomes an advantage.
Not where I live.
I agree with Mama H.: in my experience, it has to do with the kids' personalities, and "weaker" kids are the ones who tend to get picked on. I've seen some pretty goofy-looking kids with leader-type personalities, and NOBODY picks on them.
What are kids doing to your child?
p.s. Gotta disagree with Rachel, below: kids are not "mean" overall. I think most kids are nice, overall. There are a few who pick on other kids.
Are you asking about "gingers?" From South Park? I know that some kids saw that particular episode, totally missed the entire point of it, and decided that it was ok to pick on pale, freckly redheads. If you google ginger kid you will get a lot of disparaging websites about redheads. Is this the info you are seeking? As for statistics, I can tell you that only 2% of the population have naturally red hair (and by this I think they mean orange, not auburn) and when something is rare it is either coveted or ridiculed.
I can't offer any statistics, but my son plays baseball with several redheaded boys and I see no difference in the treatment they receive from any of the kids. (And I love to see a little boy in glasses! Adorable.)
I agree with most of the moms...it has more to do with personality than hair color or glasses. My DD goes to school with a teen who is slightly chubby with bright red wiry hair and is missing a leg and all the most popular girls are great friends with him because he is outgoing, extremely funny and very friendly.
Teach your child to be confident (by bolstering his/her self-esteem) and friendly and they'll have no problems!
please! Have you seen the hair colors in today's world? My son was reprimanded by the principal last school year for using red hair gel during Spirit Week. She told him it was distracting...& not to do it again. Ummm, excuse me, Ms. Principal.....what about the girls with pink, purple, blue, etc hair color? !!! How insane..
Anyway, back to your ?: my son has dense, coarse curly hair that's more like bad doll hair fuzz. He sometimes wears glasses....cute as can be! & he has braces. He does NOT live in fear of harassment, hazing, or teasing. BUT bullies will always find something to pick on....
I have red hair and had lots of freckles, too, as a kid. Yes, redheads can be treated differently. I was definitely teased for having red hair growing up. Boys were far worse than the girls. I had a male PE teacher call me "Red" instead of using my real name and a now-national TV reporter called me the same thing when I was an intern at a TV station in college. I remember a Teen magazine survey in junior high where they asked boys what color hair they preferred in girls and red only came out at 1 percent. I figured then I only had a 1 percent chance of ever having a boyfriend, which was a huge depressing stat at the time (I did learn over time that boys seem intimidated by the hair color -- which probably explains a lot of the "ginger attacks"/bullying lately -- so there probably was some truth to it).
However, the main reason I was picked on was for being a good student. That really heated up in 6th grade. So, I would say that was the bigger issue than hair color.
Now, at 40, I am THRILLED to have red hair because I haven't had to spend a fortune coloring my hair. Red hair covers up gray better than any other color. He will be very glad to have that hair color as he ages. Redheads also tend to look younger than their age if they've been good with sunblock over the years, so another big plus.
