schoolboy sent home for having ginger hair

[Marilyn. 340]

Schoolboy Felix Kramer's new term lasted less than an hour yesterday - when he was sent home for having a one-inch ginger fringe.

Felix Kramer, 15, had the end of his brown hair bleached by the sun over summer.

Teachers admitted he had not dyed it in breach of school rules but booted him out anyway until he gets it trimmed.

The GCSE pupil said: "I was five minutes late for assembly when a senior teacher took me aside and said I had to go home.

"I didn't even have time to see my friends.

"I was shocked as my hair goes like this every year, but they said it wasn't acceptable.

"My dad was quite angry about it and said I should get the school to pay for my haircut."

His father Ian furiously phoned up Isleworth and Syon School in West London, but teachers refused to budge.

The graphic designer, 58, fumed: "They accepted he hadn't dyed his hair but said he couldn't come back until it was sorted out.

"They were apologetic but told me rules are rules. I couldn't believe it when they told me.

"Felix's fringe goes blond and ginger in the sunshine and the same happens to me.

"Perhaps it would be different if he had dyed it blue or green, but it's all natural.

"He's not the kind of lad who would kick up a fuss but he's worried he will be disadvantaged as this is an important exam year for him."

However, school head Euan Ferguson defended the tough stance. Mr Ferguson insisted: "We are very proud of the high standards we set.

"My staff and I continue to monitor these standards on a daily basis to ensure that our high expectations are met."

Felix will return next week after getting the fringe trimmed.

13% of Scots are natural redheads

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2...15875-20725724/

[pedroh 21]

lol gingers!

[Ban Hammer 13,651]

buncha ginger haters over there!

[Heracles 417]

"but teachers refused to budge."

and good on them.

While the issue is a little silly. Good to see teachers standing their ground and not being walked all over by dumb ### parents.

[Marilyn. 340]

"but teachers refused to budge."

and good on them.

While the issue is a little silly. Good to see teachers standing their ground and not being walked all over by dumb ### parents.

huh??

did you read the whole article?.. the kid didn't dye is hair.. it got bleached by the sun over the summer... the teachers are the dumb ones here....

[SteveLaura 0]

The teachers made a mistake. And will let him back after a quick trim. The parents are being stubborn and publicity-hungry if they keep him home on principle.

[pedroh 21]

is it a private school? if it is.. even if the rule it's silly.. it's a RULE... and even if they're strict, those rules are to be followed.. good thing is they let the kid go somewhere to trim it, and not get a teacher and use clippers to cut his hear bald

[Marilyn. 340]

I am wondering what the exact rule is?.. that kids can't dye their hair?? which the student didn't... so what rule did he break??

[akdiver 3]

Wow...and I thought all the dumbass schools and dumbass school personnel were confined to America. How wrong I was....

[panamania79 2]

Schoolboy Felix Kramer's new term lasted less than an hour yesterday - when he was sent home for having a one-inch ginger fringe.

Felix Kramer, 15, had the end of his brown hair bleached by the sun over summer.

Teachers admitted he had not dyed it in breach of school rules but booted him out anyway until he gets it trimmed.

The GCSE pupil said: "I was five minutes late for assembly when a senior teacher took me aside and said I had to go home.

"I didn't even have time to see my friends.

"I was shocked as my hair goes like this every year, but they said it wasn't acceptable.

"My dad was quite angry about it and said I should get the school to pay for my haircut."

His father Ian furiously phoned up Isleworth and Syon School in West London, but teachers refused to budge.

The graphic designer, 58, fumed: "They accepted he hadn't dyed his hair but said he couldn't come back until it was sorted out.

"They were apologetic but told me rules are rules. I couldn't believe it when they told me.

"Felix's fringe goes blond and ginger in the sunshine and the same happens to me.

"Perhaps it would be different if he had dyed it blue or green, but it's all natural.

"He's not the kind of lad who would kick up a fuss but he's worried he will be disadvantaged as this is an important exam year for him."

However, school head Euan Ferguson defended the tough stance. Mr Ferguson insisted: "We are very proud of the high standards we set.

"My staff and I continue to monitor these standards on a daily basis to ensure that our high expectations are met."

Felix will return next week after getting the fringe trimmed.

13% of Scots are natural redheads

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2...15875-20725724/

[PlatyPius 5]

I do have to say that I find the British hatred of "Gingers" to be very, very strange and unsettling.

[Marilyn. 340]

do some people over there really dislike people with reddish hair?

[Peikko 1,575]

It's true, though, I mean look what happened to Fergie! Not sure how one explains the popularity of Chris Evans though...

People make fun of people with ginger hair, it's possible that it's an angles against celts legacy.

Oh, this story is from the Mirror, biased journalism raises it's head again...

[PlatyPius 5]

(CBS) Letter from London is Larry Miller's weekly look at news from across the pond.

Prince Harry revealed this week that he's been bullied because he has red hair. That takes some nerve — bullying someone whose grandma holds the keys to the Tower of London.

In Britain, redheads don't have it easy, but since you can no longer say nasty things about race, religion, ethnic origin, disability or gender orientation, the only ones left to abuse seem to be redheads. It's being called "gingerism." In Britain, red hair is called ginger, and redheads, gingers.

Cartman picked up the theme in a "South Park" episode, saying "they creep us out. Ginger kids have no souls… and must avoid the sun, not unlike vampires." Classmate Kyle sees it for what it is though, calling it "hate speech."

As if that's not bad enough, there are even spoof websites that make fun of ginger kids, reiterating Cartman's views.

Recently, a waitress in Plymouth, England taunted and sexually harassed at work because of her red hair, took her case to an employment tribunal, which awarded her $36,000 in compensation. Afterwards, she said: "You expect that from kids, not when you're in your forties."

Of course, you might wonder why you would accept that from even kids.

As with many minorities, who turn to song to express their blues, redheads do, too. "Red and Proud" is just one of the offerings in a choral piece celebrating redheads performed at the Royal Festival Hall. The composer, a flaming redhead, recalls that after a performance, a beautiful young strawberry blond woman told her the songs made her cry, recalling how she had been bullied.

On Internet sites, protected by the anonymity of cyberspace, redheads express their pain. One writes, "As a ginger, I was called names and teased mercilessly at school."

And it doesn't end at the school gates. Another says he's nearly 30 and he still crosses the road if there's a group of kids approaching. He's even caught parents egging their kids on to point and laugh at him.

Red hair is due to a recessive gene that's been around for as long as 40,000 years, but scientists at the Oxford Hair Foundation claim natural redheads will disappear by 2100, as carriers tend to mate with people who don't have the gene.

In the meantime, it looks like another home for the Chapman family in Newcastle. The Chapmans have already moved three times in as many years because of the abuse suffered by the six red-haired family members. Kevin Chapman says his 11-year-old son attempted suicide over it.

Oh, by the way, a helpful Newcastle city councilor suggested a solution for the abuse suffered by the Chapmans. He told them to dye their hair.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/13/...in3055185.shtml

[Marilyn. 340]

see the thing I got from this story is that he was kicked because his hair looked like it was dyed.. not because of the colour that it was dyed...