Pink Shirt Day is an annual event against bullying, held in Canada on the last Wednesday in February. Participants wear pink shirts and attend or host informative events to raise awareness about bullying, particularly in schools. Pink Shirt Day was started in 2007 in Canada by two grade 12 students named David Shepherd and Travis Price of Berwick, Nova Scotia. They bought and distributed 50 pink shirts after a ninth-grade student Chuck McNeill was bullied for wearing a pink polo shirt during the first day of school at Central Kings Rural High School in Cambridge Nova Scotia.
That year, Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald proclaimed the second Thursday of September as "Stand Up Against Bullying Day" in recognition of these events.
In 2008 the Gordon Campbell, the Premier of British Columbia proclaimed February 27th to be the provincial Anti-Bullying Day. It has continued every year across Canada on the last Wednesday in February.
This year, the artwork for the t-shirts was created by Corey Bulpitt. He's an internationally recognized artist from the Haida Na7ikun-Raven Clan. I thought it was exceptional and it's been put on pink t-shirts that many will wear today.
Let's hope the message is heard and bullying stops!
