International STAND UP to Bullying Day Date in the current year: November 15, 2024

The term bullying refers to repeated, aggressive behavior intended to hurt another person. Bullying is different from conflict in that it is ongoing in nature and involves an imbalance of physical or social power. Although it isn’t necessarily physical, bullying is considered a type of violence because emotional or verbal abuse is still abuse.

Bullying can happen anywhere and to a person of any age, but school bullying is especially common. Being bullied by peers is one of the worst experiences that a child can face. It can lead to anxiety, depression, constant stress, and the feeling of helplessness. Over the long term, victims of school bullying may develop PTSD or other disorders and, in rare cases, even commit suicide. Some victims of bullying seek revenge and become bullies themselves.

This is why bullying prevention is so important. The roots of International STAND UP to Bullying Day and many other anti-bullying observances can be traced to 2007, when two Canadian high school students launched an anti-bullying campaign at Central Kings Rural High School in Cambridge, Nova Scotia. Travis Price and David Shepherd saw a new Grade 9 student being bullied for wearing a pink shirt.

To show their support for him and protest against bullying, they bought 50 pink tank tops at a discount store, brought them to school the following day, and handed out the shirts to all the boys. Thanks to Price and Shepherd’s initiative, the pink shirt became a symbol of bullying prevention. Today, many anti-bullying campaigns use pink shirts to take a stand against bullying and make their protest more visible.

The first International STAND UP to Bullying Day was held in February 2008. More than 200 schools, workplaces, and organizations joined the campaign to protest against bullying by wearing a pink “pledge shirt”.

International STAND UP to Bullying Day is held twice a year in more than two dozen countries. The first event of the year takes place on the last Friday of February and the second event is held on the third Friday of November, during Anti-Bullying Week organized by the UK’s Anti-Bullying Alliance.

The easiest way to participate in International STAND UP to Bullying Day is to wear pink and post about it on your social media accounts to raise awareness. You also can organize an anti-bullying event at your place of study or work and reach out to victims of bullying to let them know that they are not alone and can count on your help and support.

As we’ve already mentioned above, International STAND UP to Bullying Day is not the only awareness day that uses pink shirt as a symbol of anti-bullying. Its sister observances include the International Day of Pink (second Wednesday in April), Anti-Bullying Day (May 4), Canada’s Pink Shirt Day (last Wednesday in February), and New Zealand’s Pink Shirt Day (third Friday in May).