By working together, we can help end bullying in schools. Please join us in supporting Pink Shirt Day on February 24th, 2021, wear some pink and learn about how you can help stop bullying in communities across the province at the Pink Shirt Day website by being Upstanders. Pink Day Shirt = Anti-Bullying Day! A day when people wear a pink shirt to symbolize a stand against bullying and F.Y.I. the idea originated here in Canada! For 2021, the camping focuses on lifting each other up! Take your kindness to new heights! This Pink Shirt Day, and every day, let’s Lift Each Other Up! When we lift each other, we see past the things that separate us and see instead, the things that unite us as people. Follow @pinkshirtday on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
The theme for this year’s Pink Shirt Day is “Lift each other up”; a simple but powerful message encouraging us to look beyond our differences and celebrate the things that make us unique. In 2007, on his first day of Grade 12, Travis Price learned that a Grade 9 student had been bullied for wearing a pink shirt. To take a unified stand against bullying, he and his friend David Shepherd convinced hundreds of his fellow students to be Upstanders, rather than bystanders, and wear pink clothes to school the next day. Price and Shepherd started an annual campaign now known as Pink Shirt Day and sparked an international anti-bullying movement. As Price himself experienced bullying when he was younger, he felt motivated to make a difference for this student by turning an idea into action!
Be an Upstander! An Upstander is a person who recognizes injustice, knows their personal strengths and uses those strengths to create change. Someone who recognizes when something is wrong and acts to make it right. When an Upstander sees or hears about someone being bullied, they speak up. Being an Upstander is lifting each other up: we are standing up for what is right and doing our best to help support and protect someone who is being hurt. The Canadian Museum for Human Rights has wonderful digital resources to better understand What’s an Upstander? During Pink Shirt Day reflect on how have you used your strengths to lift each other up. Take this day as a new opportunity for young Canadians to become an Upstander that takes a stand for human rights in their community.
Pink Shirt Day is now celebrated every February across Canada to raise awareness about the negative impacts of bullying and to promote anti-bullying initiatives in schools. Although the movement has continued to expand, the end goal is to make every day a pink day. This means that students, and all of us really, should always reject bullying tactics and try to make a difference if we see someone being targeted. Instead of being bystanders, we should become Upstanders! If comfortable, speak up at the moment and if not, tell a teacher and raise the issue with others who can take action. The story of Travis Price shows that one small act has the potential to inspire others to stand up for inclusion resulting in a big change. Remember, kindness and compassion can go a long way. The Pink Shirt Day website offers great digital resources to better understand bullying. A fun activity, for example, is to perform a play about the origins of Pink Shirt Day! Find the Script here: School Play- Day of Pink. Below, watch the performance of the Sir Richard McBride Elementary Annex students.
Kind words and small actions have meaningful impacts on our communities, so remember to #Lifteachotherup🚀 this Pink Shirt Day, February 24! By wearing pink we are encouraged to think about how we can say ‘no’ to bullying behaviours and say ‘yes’ to supporting and uplifting one another. In the video below, Reg Krake from ARC Foundation sits down with News Talk 980 CKNW’s Simi Sara to share how SOGI 123, a program supported by Pink Shirt Day, helps 2SLGBTQIA+ kids. Together, they discuss why teaching young people using SOGI-inclusive curriculum (SOGI = Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) is important and how teachers and mentors can create or lead an inclusive environment for youth. This Wednesday, Feb. 24, as we continue physical distancing, log on to your favourite social media channels and LIFT EACH OTHER UP! Small acts can result in big change!