On February 27th, it was decided by someone to do the sea of pink support campaign day. It is a day where you are encouraged to wear something pink, in support of a boy who was bullied in Nova Scotia but also more importantly, to help stamp out bullying.
This event came to be after an incident this past September some of you will remember. It touched the hearts of people not only in Nova Scotia and the rest of Canada but across the globe. What happened was on the first day of school a young boy just starting grade nine wore a pink shirt to school. Bullies attacked the boy, threatening to beat him up and calling him a homosexual.
These two grade twelve boys heard about the incident, and were so upset by it that they went to a thrift store and bought like fifty pink shirts and tank tops. They emailed classmates and people at the school and organized a protest of sorts by showing up at the school the next day dressed in pink shirts. Most of the student body wore pink shirts, and others dressed head to toe in pink. This certainly shut the bullies up.
The bullied student was apparently really pleased with the support his school showed for him.
Some of you, who would not have seen this on the local or national news, might have seen it on the international section of your news. Or maybe, you saw it on "Ellen". She took and interest and spread the word and now many school in North America are having their own versions of "pink day".
If you didn't hear about this one in time, don't worry. There will be others, maybe your school will be having it's own. This just goes to show that no matter how small or how few you are, you can make a difference and make a change. I mean, these pink shirts won't STOP bullying, but it raises awareness. I am sure that if you put your mind to it, you and a few friends could come up with a fun event or day like this for your own causes, you can always try and propose these ideas to Student Council or your principals. And hey; as long as it's appropriate you don't even need permission (unless you have a uniform or something) to start a day when everyone wears a certain thing. You can even host little assemblies at lunch or after school and spread the word about things you believe in supporting.
Get out there and get active!
This is BabyPowdr . . . staring in amazement at her first short article.
-BP
Author's Note: CBC coverage of the story
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2007/09/18/pink-tshirts-students.html
