Attacks on redheaded students investigated

CALGARY, Alberta, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Assaults against redheaded students at several schools in Canada has led to a bevy of suspensions and a police investigation, officials say.

Thirteen high school students have been suspended after a redheaded 10th-grade boy was beaten Thursday in the locker room at Calgary's St. Francis High School, the Canadian Broadcast Corp. reported.

A spokeswoman for the Calgary Catholic School District said the student sustained "some minor bruising" to his upper body.

"The fact of the matter is from a policing perspective, it is a hate crime, and this individual was targeted because of the fact they have red hair," said police spokesman Kevin Brookwell.

CBC also said two redhaired, seventh-grade girls at St. Alphonsus Elementary/Junior High School in Calgary were kicked repeatedly by older girls Thursday. School Board spokeswoman Janet Sutherland said two students were suspended in that case.

Also, 20 students at a Vancouver Island middle school were sent home Thursday after they kicked redheaded students.

The attacks came on a day promoted by a Facebook group as Kick a Ginger Day, the network reported. The Facebook group urged members to kick people with red hair -- referred to as ginger kids -- on Nov. 20, a phenomenon that appears to have originated with 3-year-old episode of the animated TV show "South Park" that used redheads to satirize discrimination. Redheads in the United Kingdom reportedly have been the targets of abuse.