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Pink Shirt Day is Wednesday, February 23!

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Three pink shirts with anti-bullying messages laid out on display
On Pink Shirt Day we wear pink to take a stand against bullying!

In 2007, David Shepherd and Travis Price, high school students in Nova Scotia, witnessed the bullying of a new classmate. This bullying happened because the new boy was wearing a pink shirt to school. This was unacceptable to David and Travis. After school that day, they picked up 50 pink t-shirts from a local discount store to give to fellow classmates the next day. When the new boy who had been bullied saw a crowd of his classmates walk in to the school wearing pink shirts in support of him, Travis Price is quoted as saying, “It looked like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders.”

Two people stand on either side of a hospital bed wearing pink shirts.
Michael Lundin, Sim Man, and Baldeep Pal celebrate Pink Shirt Day 2020 at Northern Health (please note that this photo was taken pre-pandemic, when masking and social distancing were not yet our everyday lives). 

This localized act in one small community on the East Coast started a worldwide movement. On the last Wednesday of February every year (February 23 this year), people across the world wear pink to take a stand against bullying. As stated on pinkshirtday.ca, the mission of the day and movement is “to create a more kind, inclusive world by raising awareness and funds for anti-bullying initiatives.”

Today, please remember to wear a pink shirt (or button, mask, scarf, or anything you may have) to show your stand against bullying. Many local vendors sell shirts and other apparel for Pink Shirt Day – my recommendation is to see if any of them are donating proceeds to local mentoring, support, or anti-bullying organizations in your community.