“Lift each other up.” That is the message of the annual Pink Shirt Day, held on Wednesday, February 23rd. Each year, this event encourages young people to take a stand against bullying, and work towards building communities – schools, workplaces, homes and online – that are inclusive, welcoming and kind.
At Trinity College School, both the Junior and Senior Schools participated in Pink Shirt Day, with students having a dress down day to wear pink T-shirts and hoodies. The pink shirt was originally selected to represent anti-bullying as a result of an incident at a school in Nova Scotia back in 2007, where a young boy was bullied for wearing a pink shirt. In response, two students – David Shepherd and Travis Price – banded together to purchase and distribute pink shirts to their classmates the following day, to visibly show their support for the bullied student. Staff at CKNW, a B.C. radio station, heard the story and were inspired to wear pink shirts and raise funds for Boys and Girls Clubs.
Today, Pink Shirt Day is marked by people in nearly 180 countries worldwide, and here in Canada the CKNW Kids’ Fund continues to promote the event, raising more than $2.5 million to support anti-bullying programs. Just as significantly, the day is a chance to raise awareness of bullying and its impact on the mental health of young people.
At TCS, Pink Shirt Day is just one opportunity to put a focus on mental health. For example, during the month of February the Senior School “Find Your Cause” service learning group has been posting messages on a “Wall of Positivity” in Cirne Commons to promote mental health and self-love. In the Junior School, the Grade 8 students sent “courage notes” to the Grade 5 students, and our youngest students responded in kind, with letters of thanks and encouragement. To mark Pink Shirt Day all Junior School students wrote to their classmates and posted pink notes of positivity on students' lockers.
Truly our students are inspired by the call to “lift each other up!” To learn more about Pink Shirt Day, visit www.pinkshirtday.ca.
