‘Kick a Jew Day’ draws suspensions
Published 10:00 pm Tuesday, November 24, 2009
NAPLES, Fla. — Ten Naples middle school students have been suspended after participating in what they called “Kick a Jew Day,” school district officials said.
The incidents came one day before at least five attacks on red-haired students at a Southern California middle school after a Facebook group announced “Kick a Ginger Day.”
District Spokesman Joe Landon said a student told the North Naples Middle School dean of students at dismissal Thursday that she was kicked because it was “Kick a Jew Day.”
The following morning, school principal Margaret Jackson addressed the entire student body regarding the incident, and reviewed the code of student conduct, explained why what happened was wrong, stressed the need to respect one another, and described possible consequences, Landon said.
Jackson asked that anyone with information on the incident come to the office and speak with her or the assistant principal as they investigated the incident.
As a result, the district determined that 10 students should be punished. The students received a one day, in-school suspension, which was served Monday.
Parents of the students who were kicked were notified of what happened, Landon said.
School district spokesman Landon said until further notice, the school will focus the first 20 minutes of each day on character traits, beginning with respect and kindness. Homeroom teachers will speak with the students about these traits and will focus on bullying prevention, he said. Videos on the topic will be sought out and used as part of the training, he said.
In the “Kick a Ginger Day” attacks, nobody was seriously hurt and no arrests were made.
A 12-year-old boy reported being kicked and hit by classmates Friday at A.E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas, Calif. A sixth-grade girl said some fellow students kicked her in the legs from behind.
Investigators said the Facebook message may have been inspired by a “South Park” TV episode that satirized racial prejudice by portraying a campaign against red-haired, fair-skinned “ginger” people.
