Pink Shirt Day started in 2007 when two Canadian students, Travis Price and David Shepherd, stood up to homophobic bullying of a grade 10 student who was harassed for wearing pink.
“It’s a huge event now,” Dr. Ryan Broll, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology at the University of Guelph, told The Ontarion. “It really helps raise awareness about bullying and cyberbullying.”
Dr. Broll’s research at the University focuses on the prolonged effects of bullying, particularly on the resilience of young people who are being bullied.
“One of the things that I’ve heard,” Dr. Broll said, “is that they wished in hindsight that when the parents asked ‘how was your day’ and they said that it was okay, that was the end of it. They wished their parents would have pushed them a little bit more.”
“What we found was that there seem to be a few things that help youth overcome being bullied,” Dr. Broll said, “almost everybody has talked about the importance of friends, a friend even.”
Dr. Broll continued to explain how the importance of having a few individuals in your life, or even one, who can be there for you when you need it can help with the effects of bullying in massive ways.
It’s not just friends who play an important role. Teachers and parents can also have tremendous effects on the state of mind of a young person who has been bullied.
“One of the things that I’ve heard,” Dr. Broll said, “is that they wished in hindsight that when the parents asked ‘how was your day’ and they said that it was okay, that was the end of it. They wished their parents would have pushed them a little bit more.”
We reached out to Sir William Osler Elementary School grade 4 teacher and author of To Be a Man, Geoff Kerman, to discuss how he approaches bullying in his class room.
“I have very little tolerance for bullying in my classroom,” Kerman told The Ontarion, “I try to give the kids in my class the ‘big picture’ as far as bullying and its implications for the future, but I think it doesn’t always resonate. I’m not sure where the anger I see in kids these days comes from, but it’s scary in light of the tragic event at a Hamilton high school this past fall.”
Kerman is referring to Monday Oct. 7, 2019, where a 14-year-old Hamilton student was fatally stabbed outside Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School. Bullying has been the center of discussion in the crime.
Some schools are trying to do more to reduce the damage of bullying, as well as educate students of possible consequences.
“Sometimes,” Kerman continued, “schools are bringing in police liaison officers now, sharing the message of why cyberbullying is a precursor to possible charges.”
While Pink Shirt Day is a time to stand in solidarity with those who have been bullied, it is also a teaching moment.
At Kerman’s school, older students give presentations on bullying and its impacts. Kerman mentioned that he makes it a point to explain the importance of Pink Shirt Day to his class in an effort to continue an ongoing and open discussion around bullying, a sentiment shared by Dr. Broll.
“Like most things it can’t just be one day,” Dr. Broll said. “It’s something we have to deal with day in and day out. If we only focus on it on Pink Shirt Day it won’t make much of a difference.”
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