Two weeks ago (November 15 – 21, 2009) was National Bullying Awareness Week.
Bullying is a concern for kids, teens and even adults every single day. And while it’s important to talk about it during the other 51 weeks of the year, having a week dedicated to talking about this problem is something I strongly encourage.
On a positive note, there were a lot of great news stories, blog entries and media coverage that talked about bullying and cyber-bullying. In fact, the Toronto Star and ParentCentral.ca covered a great story on cyber-bullying.
What really upsets, angers and saddens me is that during that same week of awareness, November 20 is unofficially known as National Kick a Ginger Day. It stems from a South Park episode that was in 2005.
Throughout North America, there are reports that students in uban, remote and rural communities participated in Kick a Ginger Day. I heard about it last Monday and as someone who was bullied in junior high, thought, “Enough is enough; I have something to say about this.”
So what are your thoughts on bullying and Kick a Ginger Day? Is it just a silly joke that we’re taking too seriously? Should we expel and publicly punish anyone promoting this targeting tactic? Is there somewhere we can meet in the middle?
For me, bullying is wrong. Plain and simple.