Getty Images
OPINION
Imagine your child being constantly targeted for the colour of his hair. Imagine he or she being abused and bullied and made to feel different for something that’s such a special part of each of us – our physical characteristics.
TV hosts Dr Andrew Rochford and Leila McKinnon are dead right to be infuriated by their children being called “rangas” and it’s time we banned the word.
In a heartfelt Instagram post recently, Andrew said he was devastated by the bullying of his 10-year-old son Archie simply because he has red hair.
‘I am broken, completely broken,’ he said in the furious post which showed the extent of his anguish.
‘He didn’t choose his hair,’ Andrew wrote of his son. ‘He can’t change his hair and he should not have to. The first time he told me he was being bullied because of his hair I encouraged him to “be strong buddy, you’re amazing” and they are just going for the “easy target”. But when he comes home to me and says he’s being called a “f***ing ranga” – targeted for something he cannot change, I am broken, completely broken.’
Andrew’s comments come just weeks after Channel 9 host Leila McKinnon spoke out similarly about her son Ted.
Writing for 9 Honey, she said after the birth of four-year-old Ted she was constantly stopped by people who’d comment on his red hair.
‘What about the strangers who feel free to tell mums and dads that they always said if they had a baby with red hair they would flush it down the toilet? ‘ she wrote.
She said “ranga” was an ugly term derived from the word “orang-utan”. ‘Is it OK to compare someone to an ape? No, it’s not, so let’s all ditch the word “ranga” shall we?’
Leila is right – the word has no place in modern Australia where we should be embracing diversity. And, as Andrew Rochford points out, that starts at home.
If parents stop using such a derogatory term and kids are told why its so offensive then we’re on the right track.
Andrew urges adults to take the lead: ‘So take a really long hard look at yourself … because if you perpetuate victimisation in your house, or your workplace or on a stage or the radio or television …. YOU are the problem … YOU! The boys that are picking on my son weren’t born to be so mean, they have learnt from you.’
