February Article

What is a Pink Shirt Day and the history of it?

 

Pink Shirt Day is the Anti-Bullying Day which symbolized a stand against bullying. This movement is originated in Canada. In 2007, Grade 12 students Travis Price and David Sheppard in Nova Scotia heard about a Grade 9 student being bullied for simply wearing a pink shirt. The two Grade 12 students decided to address the issue of bullying.  So they tried to encourage students in the school to wear pink the next day, this action spread exponentially not only throughout Canada but also all over the world. The upcoming Pink Shirt Day in Canada is on Feb. 24, 2021

 

What is bullying?

 

Bullying can take in many forms.

1. Physical – punching, shoving, spitting, taking or breaking someone’s belongings or other physical acts

2. Verbal – degrading, spreading rumors, teasing, threatening, name-calling

3. Isolation – keeping people out of the group, getting other not to befriend with someone

4. Cyber – using digital devices as the means to degrade and hurt someone, e.g., sending, posting or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone, causing embarrassment or humiliation.

Bullying is WRONG, and these behaviours often leads the person being bullied feel afraid or uncomfortable

 

How parents can help?

 

Most of the youth will not report to their parents about being bullied either at school or online, or both. Parents have to be alert and prepared for it.

 

Maintain frequent conversation with your youth.

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Frequent conversation doesn’t mean it has to be on topics of bullying. It can be on various daily events. Listening is essential. The most important thing is to keep the communication channel open, non-judgmental and non-threatening.

 

Be their role model

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Children learn a lot of things from observing how their parents react to certain scenarios. If your child sees you speaking very mean to others or even to the child, they will just model it. Show your child the acts of kindness but also acts of assertiveness.

 

Understanding the signs of being bullied

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As most of the kids are not telling their parents about being bullied, parents need to recognize signs. Some of the signs include: avoiding or having reasons to be late to school or not going to school, loss of belongings, easy irritated, loss of appetite, or see bruises on your child.

 

Keep a close working relationship with the school

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Working closely with the school helps parents understand how school is addressing bullying and parents feel more comfortable discussing the issues with the school.

 

Educate your youth about different forms of bullying and what needs to be done when encountered bullying

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Prevention is always better than intervention. Teaching children identify what bullying is and how to be assertive enough to keep himself/herself safe. Moreover, letting your youth understand that talking to adult is nothing to be ashamed of.

 

Participate in the Pink Shirt Day together with your youth to show your support

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Showing you are active with this subject helps your youth to acknowledge that their parents understand this topic and they are free to talk about it. In addition, sending out a message to your youth that bullying is not acceptable.