LAKELAND - Schools and workplaces across Canada are wearing pink on Feb. 26 in an effort to create a kinder world.
“Pink Shirt Day” began as an act of protest by two Nova Scotia teens in 2007. David Shepherd and Travis Price bought and distributed 50 pink tank tops for boys at their school in the Annapolis Valley to wear in solidarity and defense of a Grade 9 student who was being bullied for wearing a pink shirt. Word spread, and the gesture was repeated at schools in Halifax, then across Canada, and around the world.
Now, 17 years later the day is celebrated annually as a day to raise awareness and funds for anti-bullying initiatives.
Bullying can take multiple forms, including physical violence, verbal attacks like name-calling, social and relational bullying like exclusion, ignoring, and gossip, and cyberbullying, which uses technology to threaten, embarrass, intimidate, exclude, or damage the reputation of another person.
According to Statistics Canada name-calling and insults are the most common form of bullying, making up 59 per cent of incidents reported, followed by rumour-spreading with 34 per cent and social exclusion with 32 per cent. It’s important to note many victims experience more than one type of bullying.
Also according to Statistics Canada, 25 per cent of youth aged 12 to 17 reported being cyberbullied in the previous year, with higher percentages among LGBTQ+, disabled, and First Nations youth living off-reserve.
Being a victim of bullying can have a serious impact on a person's mental health and physical well-being.
"Youth who experienced bullying frequently (monthly or more) were also more likely than those who did not experience bullying in the past 12 months to report experiencing frequent (monthly or more) difficulties in getting to sleep (73 per cent compared with 41 per cent), headaches (70 per cent compared with 42 per cent), stomach aches (60 per cent compared with 31 per cent) or backaches (56 per cent compared with 27 per cent)," according to Statistics Canada.
The Government of Canada also offers tips on how to prevent or stop bullying. According to information from the federal government, "When other children intervene in bullying, more than half of the time it stops within 10 seconds."
All adults should be willing to talk openly about bullying with the children in their care, "and should be prepared to deal directly with any problems that arise, whether at school, among groups of friends, or in other social situations," reads the information from the Government of Canada.
A study by the World Health Organization that surveyed the health behaviours of school aged children around the world, found that Canada ranks in the middle of 35 countries studied for level of bullying.
