By working together, we can help end bullying in schools. Please join us in supporting Pink Shirt Day on Feb. 26, 2020, 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 mainly a pink shirt to symbolize a stand against bullying and F.Y.I. the idea originated here in Canada! For 2020, 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? You can also compete to be Canada’s Next Upstander!!! How have you used your strengths to lift each other up? A new opportunity for young Canadians to share how they’re becoming 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 be better understand bullying. A fun activity is to perform a play about the true origins of Pink Shirt Day! Find the Script here: School Play- Day of Pink. Watch the performance of the Sir Richard McBride Elementary Annex students below.
How can kind words and small actions have meaningful impacts in our communities, all year long? Swoop Is Calling On All Of Us To #Lifteachotherup🚀 This Pink Shirt Day, February 26! Swoop Airlines is encouraging us all to think about how we can say ‘no’ to bullying behaviours and say ‘yes’ to encouraging, supporting and uplifting one another. For every like, comment, and share on the #LiftEachOtherUp🚀 Donation Posts on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter this February 26, Swoop will donate $1 to support anti-bullying programs in partnership with CKNW Kids’ Fund. It’s easy! Simply log on to your favourite social media channels on February 26, look for our posts on @pinkshirtday and double-tap! You can also share to your own feed or Story, leave a kind word or two in the comments, and tag a friend. The more the merrier! LIFT EACH OTHER UP! Small acts can result in big change.
