Shine OnWearing pink today? International Day of Pink aims to combat bullying
Today, April 10, is the International Day of Pink, a day against bullying, discrimination, homophobia and transphobia.
At workplaces and schools across Canada, people are wearing pink to stand up against bullying.
The Day of Pink started in 2007 in Nova Scotia, where two straight students wore pink to show their support for a gay student at their high school who was being bullied for his own pink T-shirt. A few days later, other students joined them in a "sea of pink."
In the wake of the suicide of Nova Scotia teen Rehtaeh Parsons, the day feels more important than ever.
Parsons, an alleged rape victim, dropped out of school after a boy circulated cell-phone photos of the alleged sexual assault. She lost many of her friends, and battled depression and suicidal thoughts for 18 months. She was taken off life support Sunday as a result of a suicide attempt last week.
Also see: Prince William and Kate Middleton will name their baby Philip if it's a boy
The Day of Pink aims to unite Canadians in solidarity: Things like this should not happen.
"Bullying, intimidation, prejudice and discrimination are toxins that affect us all. When we allow members of any community to be marginalized and dehumanized, we contribute to a hidden form of violence," says Ontario Federation of Labour Secretary Treasurer Nancy Hutchison in a statement.
"Bullying can only thrive in the shadows. Each of us must expose injustice and acknowledge our responsibility to take action to defend the rights of all people, regardless of race, gender, age, abilities, sexual orientation, or gender identity."
In Ottawa, Jer's Vision, a youth diversity initiative that runs anti-bullying workshops, is holding a gala to honour the Right Honourable Michaelle Jean, Olympian Mark Tweksbury and CBC host Jian Ghomeshi for their dedication to youth issues and for being allies to the LGBTQ communities.
This morning, an anti-bullying talk took place at the Senate Chamber with 150 youth — many of whom were donning pink.
Also see: Women have happier love lives than men, but men 'happier in life' overall, study says
"A pink shirt cannot stop bullying. But wearing pink raises awareness about the issue," says Jeremy Dias, director of JersVision.org. "Wearing a pink shirt says to your school and community that YOU understand that bullying happens and that YOU are committed to doing something about it. It is daily actions like: being kinder, standing up for someone, reporting bullying, learning about diversity and taking action."
"More over, the International Day of Pink has become a platform for youth and adults to hold awareness, educational and engagement activities."
According to a recent study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), 29 per cent of students in Ontario reported being bullied at school, while 22 per cent reported being cyberbullied.
"The consequences can be deadly: Victims of cyberbullying report higher levels of depression and are two times more likely to have attempted suicide," a CAMH press release states.
According to Bullying Canada, about one in seven Canadian children are victims of bullying, with bullying occurring once every seven minutes on the playground and once every 25 minutes in the classroom.
On February 27, many Canadians took part in Pink Shirt Day, a similar bullying-awareness day initiated by Vancouver-based radio station CKNW. In 2012, more than 6.4 million people around the world wore pink to mark the day.
Did you wear pink today?
