Got a pink shirt? Great! Just make sure it’s laundered for Wednesday, February 23. Don’t have one? Well, you’ve still got the weekend to go out and buy one. It’s for a worthwhile cause.
Why wear pink on February 23? It all started in 2007 when a student at a Nova Scotia school was bullied for wearing a pink shirt to school. In this instance the bullying truly backfired, because it led to February 23 is now observed nationally as a day for taking a stand against bullying.
Despite increased awareness of the prevalence of bullying and the damage it causes, the statistics continue to paint a dire picture. The most recent statistics show that nearly half (47%) of Canadian parents having a child who has been a victim of bullying. Four out of 10 high school boys report some sort of physical assault, while one out of three girls in grades 6 through 10 are bullied—mainly in the form of social bullying.
While all children and youth are vulnerable to bullying, certain groups are more vulnerable than others. Students with disabilities, neurodevelopmental differences, special healthcare needs, or intellectual exceptionality are more likely to be victimized, as are students who are overweight. LGBTQ youth continue to represent an outsized segment of bullied students.
The negative consequences of bullying and far reaching and severe. According to the Canadian Psychological Association, bullying victims are at increased risk of:
- Depression, anxiety, and mood disorders
- Substance abuse
- Low self-esteem and social confidence
- Isolation and loneliness
- Poor peer relationships
- Stomach aches and headaches
- “Toxic stress” or enduring low-grade systemic inflammation, which is linked to disease
- School absenteeism and learning problems
- Contemplating, attempting, or committing suicide
Of course, for many people, bullying doesn’t stop with high school graduation. Statistics Canada data from 2016 showed that 19% of women and 13% of men had experienced harassment in their workplace in the previous year.
What To Do About All This?
It’s worth acknowledging that the simple act of wearing a pink shirt on February 23 won’t end the problem of bullying. However, taking time to reflect on the nature and extent of bullying and engaging in crucial conversations with children, other parents, teachers, and so on helps foster an atmosphere of openness in which children are more likely to bring such issues to the fore.
Of course, Vista Virtual School, being a purely online school, is by its nature free from the sort of “schoolyard” bullying that most people associate with the term, the amount of time VVS students spend online makes them especially vulnerable to cyberbullying, which impacts some 17% of Canadians aged 18 to 24. Pink Shirt Day is therefore a great opportunity for conversations about online safety and harassment.
This year’s province-wide Pink Shirt Day theme is #BeKindAB, and the government of Alberta encourages Albertans to be “inclusive, welcoming, and supportive with colleagues, clients, friends and family.” Wearing pink is just the start: it takes an entire community’s worth of honest, open conversation to create a safe environment in which children who are suffering from bullying can get the help they need.
Were it not for such conversations, the Nova Scotia boy who had the audacity to wear pink back on February 23, 2007 would have been just another forgotten victim of school bullying. You too can do your part by wearing pink on the 23rd and participating in the online conversation about bullying with the hashtags #BeKindAB and #PinkShirtDay.
VVS supports Pink Shirt Day and encourages everybody to participate in the conversation about ending bullying in our schools and beyond. For more information and digital resources, visit the government of Alberta Pink Shirt Day page