Ginger & worried about the future.

[Noimusntforget]

Our gorgeous toddler Dd has red/ginger hair, she’s very pale, with blue eyes and barely there eyebrows and eyelashes.
We’re both dark haired, with tanned skin and blue eyes, our girl doesn’t really look like us yet. Where we are (not in the uk) ginger hair is seen as very unusual and special, but we plan to move back to the uk in the next few years. I have a red headed friend who was bullied for years. When I look at my sweet, innocent girl, I feel fearful for the way she might be treated in a few years.
Anyone else have a red headed child? Is her colouring likely to change at this stage (2.4 months old)
Her hair and colouring is stunning and special to us, but people can be arseholes in life and I feel sad if she’ll have to encounter that.

Possible, OP. I had a bit of it in secondary, as did some ginger friends. Mainly just questions around pubic hair- 'Oi, do the curtains match the drapes?' or, from the more hard of thought, 'Do you have ginger pubes??' shouted down the corridor. A friend got nicknamed Duracell. Nothing worse than that really for the girls (oddly, the comments always came from the boys). The ginger boys got it worse, and I shan't tell you what stuff the one ginger lad in our form got subjected to, but I do hope it didn't impact on his ability to have kids down the line.

I don’t think anyone bullies red heads anymore do they? It’s not the 1980’s.
If anything it’s an admired hair colour. I don’t think you have anything to worry about

My daughter is 5 and has been bullied over her hair. Kids can always find something to bully over

I have a blue eyed, red haired 19yo ds and a green eyed, red haired 13yo dd and neither have ever been bullied about their hair colour, it’s a gorgeous strawberry blonde and they have only ever had compliments about it - dd more so than ds. I have two other dds who wish they had red hair. I don’t really think it’s much of a thing any more for dc to be bullied for their hair colour.

I honestly don't think that's much of a thing anymore.

Even if it was, the best thing is to teach her to be confident in herself. Kids can get bullied for ANYTHING so just equip her to be resilient.

My child doesnt have red hair but does have birthmarks. A wise teacher friend reassured me that its personality type that determines whether a child suffers bullying or not, not what they look like. Some beautiful children are bullied while some with obvious differences are not. My son, now 10, has experienced no bullying, he's had comments but knows how to deal with them and brush them off. I'm guessing secondary school will be the true test but he's resilient, confident and funny, I have high hopes he'll be ok.

My dc is 15 and has amazing red hair. Never ever received negative comments. Her db's affectionately call her Ginge and it's never said or taken badly.
It's waist length and wavy.
I def have hair envy!

Dd is a redhead and has not had any bullying or negative comments. I don't think it's a 'thing' any more. She does get compliments and loves her hair colour so far. She's 7.

I have a 12 year old with red hair. I would never, ever refer to him, even in writing as "ginger". I think you need to look at your own prejudices a bit.

Anyway, we're in Scotland and he was one of three in his class with red hair. It's really not that unusual and nobody's ever remarked upon it.

I'm 57 and have had the piss taken out of me all my life about it, not exactly bullied. I hate it so much I'm blonde now and have been for about 25 years. My eldest ds also has ginger hair ( he's 35) and he's had it too, but it doesn't seem to bother him as much as it does me. My other dc's are dark and I used to get asked if they had different dad's ( they don't, except the youngest).

What annoys me is that it's ok for some people to think it's funny to make ginger jokes, but wouldn't dream of taking the piss out of any other sort of colouring 😡

I have two DCs with red hair, one more red one more reddish blonde. Nothing but compliments on their hair. I know many redhead children (it actually seems to be more common now as far as I can tell?) none seem to have attracted any negative comments.

I have red hair, other than the odd comment was never an issue at school. Don't worry about it, don't make her anxious about it and think how lucky she has to have such lovely hair.

I am a red-head and was bullied for it but only as part of a very long list... My ginger children have never had a negative comment. Only positive ones. One went from red to strawberry blonde, the other is proper ginger still. Even I don't hear comments about gingers anymore.

Not a problem in Scotland.

I think Ginger bullying is dying out tbh. My friend has a properly orange haired child which is almost afro (parents have straight brown hair). She is Year 8 and never been bullied, if anything everyone is very drawn to her hair, especially the other girls who like to play with it and wind it round their fingers.

I have a beautiful blue eyed redhead. She is the youngest of our 5. The others are all dark the same as DH and I. I think that DD5 is truly beautiful inside and out and her hair is stunning. I would love her colouring and told her from a very young age that she was so lucky to have hair like this. You can't change it OP and really I'm sure you wouldn't want to so just carry on loving your beautiful little girl - all will be fine!

Mum to 2 boys and myself have the ginger hair, My boys were often stopped as toddlers for having gorgeous hair, got through school ok, One older kid with ginger told my 11 year old first day of senior school gett any bullying you come and find me , us gingers stick together. But they never did. But my eldest was aggressively sworn at and an apple core thrown at him by an idiot male in a white van and "I f**g hate gingers shouted out as he was walking home from school at 14, he just didn't react. They learn to live with it, my youngest is much darker now and its lovely, I always told mine it's only hair colour. It's a lovely colour and my husband loves it and that's why he married me.

My girls have red hair and it has only ever brought good things! Both have modelled and done acting work due to their striking looks. Sadly my hair is brown 😂 neither has been bullied apart from one teen who no one likes anyway and the friends all thought less of her for her stupid comment. So it may well be an asset rather than a hindrance!

@MootingMirror

Also, just seen all the comments about how red hair isn't bullied in schools anymore. DH and I are both teachers and students are definitely still treated the same regarding ginger hair - boys get it worse than girls but there are definitely comments. It's more of a case that kids will use it to bully kids that they'd find a reason to pick on anyway but it's definitely still a thing - also, a lot of the time it's jokey comments rather than actual bullying.

But they get this from somewhere or someone. You aren't born thinking ginger hair is somehow less.

Isn't it about time that parents and teachers helped to put an end to bullying for whatever reason once and for all? In the primary school I volunteer in there is a blanket rule that we do not make comments about someone's appearance unless it is complimentary. I hope they remember that in secondary school.

Ds's mate is ginger, he isn't bullied for it, he loves his hair as it makes him different than all the other generic hair colours. Ds did send him Prejudice by Tim Minchin.

Our gorgeous toddler Dd has red/ginger hair, she’s very pale, with blue eyes and barely there eyebrows and eyelashes.

That’s our DD (except no longer a toddler - grown up and left home).

She was never bullied because of her hair colour but we did and she still does get a lot of comments on her hair .... all positive.

Second both @RaspberryCoulis and @MollyButton - definitely not a problem in Scotland - will be one of several in a class almost undoubtedly... So move here, it’s great 🤗

My friends dd is a child model and actor she is often cast for her lovely red curly hair- embrace it teach dd to feel proud of her lovely hair

I would never, ever refer to him, even in writing as "ginger". I think you need to look at your own prejudices a bit.

That’s not prejudice! DDs family nickname is “Ginger” and she is totally happy with it!

Times have changed, I think red heads are quite envied now.

I was teased endlessly at school growing up, some of it was about my hair colour, some of it was about other things but it was always worse because I had low self esteem and was unable to brush it off. I absolutely hated having red hair and spent years dying it different colours.

It's only now I'm older and nearing 40 that I appreciate my hair - mainly as I have hardly any greys! My DDs don't have my colouring at all and both say they wish they had hair like Mummy which is quite sweet. They say that kids don't get teased for things like hair colour at school. I do think things have changed in that respect.

Nothing like someone shouting "Oi GINGER" at you from a moving vehicle though. I mean, geez thanks for letting me know .