For Nicole Daniels, Pink Shirt Day is about being excited to come to 91原创 Secondary School every morning.
鈥淚鈥檝e had so many experiences with bullying where (I didn鈥檛) want to go to school,鈥� said the Grade 12 student, who is part of LSS鈥檚 Leadership group that spearheads events in the school and surrounding community.
鈥淪ince Grade 9 I鈥檝e actually wanted to come to school because I don鈥檛 have to worry about being picked on and having anything unkind said to me.鈥�
celebrated its 10th anniversary on Wednesday.
The nation-wide day aims to raise awareness of issues surrounding bullying, as well as raise funds to support programs that foster children鈥檚 healthy self-esteem.
The day was born in 2007 in Nova Scotia, led by then high school students David Shepherd and Travis Price.
When a fellow student was being bullied for wearing a pink shirt, the two decided to take a stand. Shepherd and Price purchased pink tank tops from a discount store, to give to fellow students an opportunity to show their support for a boy who was being bullied simply for wearing a pink shirt.
Keep your eyes on the skies tonight! The at will be lit up in honour of ! 馃挄
鈥� Pink Shirt Day (@pinkshirtday)
A decade later, LSS Grade 12 and Leadership Group member Jenn Hyslop said her school has a culture that promotes inclusiveness and kindness.
鈥淲e try to uplift each other in the halls by smiling and saying hello and holding the doors,鈥� Hyslop said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been working so hard over the past 10 years to uplift our school鈥檚 reputation and make it a second home.鈥�
Since Shepherd and Price made their stand a decade ago, the face of bullying has changed.
With the rise of social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter, and through texting and emails, cyberbullying has become much more prevalent.
Hyslop says in her experience, the teens she knows are becoming more sensitive to what they post.
鈥淚 feel that a lot of people have kind of taken that step back to what they鈥檙e posting online,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e so aware of what we鈥檙e doing now,鈥� Daniels offered.
Hyslop said the focus of Pink Shirt Day is to 鈥渃elebrate positivity.鈥�
91原创 School District communications manager Ken Hof said that while the the pink shirt movement is most active at LSS, DW Poppy Secondary and Shortreed Community Elementary, 鈥渁ll district schools are very involved in 鈥楻espect and Diversity Week鈥� activities.鈥�
Pink is the new black! The are proud to show our support for by wearing our shirts!
鈥� BCRCMP (@BCRCMP)
