Redheads, I love em', in fact I refuse to look at a woman unless shes red. So does that make me blondeist?

Jim G, Douglas, Isle of Man

I disagree that people must have a hateful characteristic first. Many or most people are bullied just because in some way their personality or physical vulnerability make them an easy target, and then you're right, they'll use something like red hair to pick on them. You can't blame the victims of bulling if you want it to stop.

Also, just because red hair isn't enough to get someone bullied in someone's own personal experience, that doesn't mean that among the other 6 billion people in the world it's never happened. Personal experience is far too narrow to be a sufficient sample.

Rachel, Kent,

I think this prejudice is no better than racism, totally disgusting and wrong,I was bullied at school for my hair colouring, its no different than shouting names to black people.

tom davies, cornwall, england

What a load of old cobblers this whole story is.
yes STORY is the word to describe this. The family are obviously trouble and just want to have yet another move.
Wherever they go from here they will be marked as being petty and they will be picked on - they have ensured this themselves

jimmynail, newcastle, england

I'd suggest moving out of Newcastle, having once thought of living there myself in the past, the bullet holed windows on the local council estates rather put me off.

Of course, with a lack of council housing elsewhere in the country will make that probably impossible..

Former ginger family member, London, UK

Your son probably left the Navy because he didn't push back nor play soggy biscuit.
No person will be purely victimised due to hair colour. They have to have at least one other hateful character trait first - and then hair colour is just one of the many insults that will be thrown their way.
This is politcally correct nonsense - though no family should be forced to move house through victimisation and shows how our society has been heading over the years.
Knee-jerk reactions from politicians like Cameroon against respected MPs who are just stating facts (not opinions) can not help the case.
From a secret admirer of flame haired, fiery tempered, milky skinned maidens

Fox Piss, And Twiglets, England

Excuse me. 9 children. Nine children??!!! Why are the council involved? Why is this family permitted to procreate when they are not able to provide a home for themselves, and have to turn to the rest of us, through our sacrifices, our educations, our hard work, our earnings to give them somewhere to live and pay for the upkeep of their children?

nb, london, UK

Sir,
I am appalled by the facts of this case, what does it say about our society?
It is not at all about low-level tom-foolery involving just children, but that adults have been forced to move out of their own homes. Our nation has lost its way, in our absent-minded relentless quest for material goods, we have let down ourselves and our children. In order to mollify our guilt, we are using gifts as a palliative recompense, for being too busy to spend time with them. Is it not surprising then, that these children grow up in a "Lord of the flies" manner, compassion-starved bullies, unable to empathise with & respecting no-one, even themselves?
It is these heartless cynicical attitudes learnt in childhood, which have corroded our traditional values of respect, tolerance, justice, fair play and civility. As our nation has increasingly become the putative 51st State, all considerations of nuance have been replaced by simple stereotyping & time-pressed one-liners. Civility is called PC.

SC, London, United Kingdom

As a ginger minger,....I'd be willing to bet that there is more to this than hair colour. My own experience of being brought up in a working class area is nothing but good !!
I smell a cover-up for some other problem(s) with this family !!

James Mackay, Motherwell, SCOTLAND

I find all this anti ginger appalling. 4 of my 5 children had ginger hair. They all had to put up with teasing but not to the extent of this family.

My youngest son recently had to leave the navy because of the abuse he received about his ginger hair.

Diane Haigh, Ramsey, Isle of man

We lived next door to this family in newcastle 8 years ago and it was the worst time of our life. Being ginger had nothing to do with it, they turned a lovely 3 bedroom house into absolute squalor, terrorised all of the street, i remember an occasion when the then youngest shouted a disgusting, abusive word at my grandma. We had to petition them to move out of our street, they were that bad. They used the garden as a toilet, we couldnt even tell that they had ginger hair, as they were so dirty. They verbally abused anyone walking in the street. I laughed out loud when i read Andrews article! Total Karma!

Lesley Hamilton, Newcastle upon tyne, tyne and wear

Its not being a "victim of hair-colour prejudice". Ridiculous.

Its being a victim of pathological low-life who judge and hate others because they're not blond or brown or black. Not the same thing - the term "hair-colour prejudice" suggests there is something different to be "prejudiced" towards, which there obviously isn't.

I have red hair, got the predictable abuse in my schooldays, and it damaged my self esteem and confidence. It happens simply because red hair is a minority - that does not implicate the situation in a sexuality/ethnic/whatever politics where there are, in fact, substantial differences between people.

Joe, Manchester,

I think the Chapmans should be proud of their heritage, which obviously makes them stand out from the drab morons whose lives are so empty that they can find nothing better to do than bully them. I am not a redhead -though my beard was red when I grew one - but I was bullied at school for being a scholarship boy and I found it great fun, being young and savage enough to play for the Junior, Middle and Senior House rugby teams, to lawfully inflict a great deal of pain on those who had got on my wick earlier. This had a very salutary effect.

I would suggest to the Chapman children, that there is something to be said for an intensive physical fitness programme; merely looking the part is sufficient deterrence in 99% of cases.

Alternatively, they could move to Scotland, which appears still not to be dissolving into the bestiality that seems to be taking over English cities.

By the way, who the hell finds Catherine Tate amusing?

S.G. Evans, Hong Kong,

It is high time that the Government stopped talking and actually took some actions in regards to discipline and bullying in schools as the earlier you prevent bullying the less bullies will become adults and carry on bullying. Why on earth have we allowed our schools to become breeding grounds for bullies ?. 20 years ago we had to have a uniform and although there was some bullying it was no where near as rampant as now. What a sad Country we have become.

Sergei, London, UK

Ginger Ninja, such behaviour cannot be deemed racist as it has no basis in race. Segregationalist yes, offensive yes, but regrettably we are unable to brand anyone who highlights any personal characteristic as 'racist.'

Pu Li, Guangxi,

If this family were black, Trevor Philips would be on TV, the perpetrators would be the ones made the leave, and there would be absolute uproar over this. But because they're white, it's not considered important.

Why is nothing being done against those abusing this family? I have heard of no arrests, no psychiatric treatment of these obviously mentally deficient individuals, no education of the children abusing them, no punishment.

hg, london, UK

As scapegoat-style behaviour which can add cohesion to the rest of the group, focus on hair colour rather than the traditional ethnic or cultural criteria may be an indicator that social tensions seeking relief by displacement activity may be a festering hotbed and portent of troubles to come.

Close study of those parts of the world where stability and rule of law have been replaced by regression to simulation of jungle conflict between apes with behaviour patterns of co-operation on the one hand and aggression on the other could offer clues as to possible outcomes.

European history from the 1930s offers more concrete examples of what can happen when technology (including crowd management in its widest sense) and organised human resources are available to dangerously polarised groups.

dr venables preller, Warminster, UK

Anti red head. Totally unheard of in the U.S.
I suppose if the family had multi-colored punk haiedos they
would be heros of the neighborhood.
Those that harass them ought to be caught and their hair
shaved off,
Come over to the U.S.A. folks you will be welcomed.

Jerry Scroggin, Phoenix, Arizona/USA

I'm ginger and I love the colour of my hair, my family have brought me up to be proud of my heritage, however both as a child and an adult, I have been taunted, bullied and even physically abused, purely because I’m ginger. Even friends make derogatory comments about ‘gingers’ then quickly try to recover but stating that I’m not that ‘horrible’ ginger but more strawberry blonde! No I’m ginger!

The problem is that it is not illegal to victimize someone due to the colour of his or her hair, so it is considered acceptable behaviour, albeit morally incorrect. Even the UK media are guilty of making offensive comments about ginger hair.

I do consider such behaviour racist and very offensive to me, and my family, so I am glad that such cases are highlighted, however I don’t expect anything to be done about it.

Ginger Ninja, Torfaen, Wales

Being from the U.S. I have to say this baffles me. I saw the Catherine Tate sketch and found it funny but odd. I can't believe this is for real. There is a lot of stuff wrong with my country but I can at least say that red(ginger) haired people can live peacefully here.

Lisa, Ohio, USA

Call me naive, but, honestly, before I saw the episode of Southpark that parodied anti-Ginger sentiment, I had never even heard the term "Ginger" in this context, and I had absolutely no idea there was prejudice against people with the physical attributes that constitute the stereotypical "Ginger" appearance. I really can't understand what drives this sort of irrational hate. It makes no sense to me whatsoever.

Jason, Seattle, USA,