Bullying is a problem in schools all over North America, and on Wednesday, February 26th, 2020 Canada celebrates Anti-Bullying with Pink Shirt Day. Celebrated on the last Wednesday of February every year, Pink Shirt Day was started by two high school students who thought it was time to make a statement against their school bullies. Find out more about Pink Shirt Day!
What Is It?
In Canada, the last Wednesday of February (in 2020 it’s the 26th) is dedicated to promoting awareness about bullying (and taking a stand against it) by wearing the color pink. For years people just assumed that getting bullied or bullying was simply a rite of passage and a part of school (and with cell phones and social media you don’t have to be in front of someone to bully them anymore), but being bullied can lead to terrible emotional and even physical harm. Whether you buy an official shirt or simply sport your fave shade of fuchsia, wearing pink lets people know that you’re not on board with bullying.
Pink Shirt Day, February 27th, 2019!Courtesy of Pink Shirt Day
How Did It Get Started?
Two Nova Scotia high school students got the ball rolling on anti-bullying by creating Pink Shirt Day – showing everyone that it only takes a couple of dedicated students standing up to bullies to make a difference.
On the first day of school a 9th grade boy got teased and bullied for wearing a pink shirt, David Shepherd and Travis Price immediately realized this was wrong and decided to get all their friends to help them start a protest by wearing pink shirts at school. They marched down to a discount store, bought all the pink shirts they could find and distributed them to the guys in their school. When the bullied kid showed up at school and saw them distributing the shirts “it looked like a huge weight had been taken off his shoulders” said David.
“I learned that two people can come up with an idea, run with it, and it can do wonders” said Travis.
Their act of kindness and bravery was immediately recognized and applauded by the press, and soon Pink Shirt Day had sponsors and schools wanting to get involved.
Travis Price and David Shepherd organized the first Pink Shirt Day at their high school in Nova Scotia
What Can I Do?
- There are lots of ways to stand up to bullies, even if you don’t live in Canada you can wear a pink shirt on Wednesday and let people know why you’re doing it.
- If bullying is a problem at your school, let your teachers and principal know that you think it should be discussed. The easiest way to defeat bullies is by showing them they’re outnumbered by people who care about kindness.
- If your school, teachers or class want to get involved with Pink Shirt Day go to pinkshirtday.ca and register. You can buy Pink Shirt Day anti-bullying shirts, donate to the cause or simply re post their info on Pink Shirt Day to your Twitter, Facebook or blog.
- Add a Kidzworld Pink Shirt Day profile theme!
The focus for Pink Shirt Day 2020 is to lift each other up.
Have Your Say
What do you think of Pink Shirt Day? Have you ever been bullied? Let us know in the comments section below!
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