Pink Shirt Day in Canada Date in the current year: February 28, 2024

According to Cambridge Dictionary, bullying is “the behavior of a person who hurts or frightens someone smaller or less powerful”. Such behavior may involve hurtful teasing, threats, coercion, and the use of force. Adults often dismiss bullying among children and teenagers as a normal part of growing up, saying that conflicts are bound to happen and kinds should learn to resolve them. However, bullying is not the same thing as conflict. Unlike normal conflicts, bullying involves an imbalance of physical or social power and is ongoing in nature.

Bullying is one of the worst experiences that a kid can face. Children and teenagers who are bullied by peers often feel helpless and suffer from loneliness, constant stress, anxiety, and depression. Bullying victims who don’t get help may develop PTSD and other mental health problems or even commit suicide. Some children who have been targeted by bullies turn on them and become bullies themselves.

In 2007, Chuck McNeill, a new ninth-grade student at Central Kings Rural High School in Cambridge, Nova Scotia, Canada, came to school wearing a pink polo shirt. Some other students harassed him for it; when Grade 12 students, Travis Price and David Shepherd, saw McNeill being bullied, they decided to support him and take a public stance against bullying.

David and Travis bought 50 pink shirts at a discount store, brought them to school the next day, and distributed the shirts to other students, encouraging them to wear pink. Their initiative sparked an anti-bullying movement that has spread first throughout Canada and then to other countries. Inspired by Travis and David’s act of kindness, CKNW Kids’ Fund, a charity dedicated to providing support for children with various challenges in British Columbia, launched Pink Shirt Day to raise funds for anti-bullying programs in British Columbia and throughout Western Canada.

How can you participate in Pink Shirt Day? There are many ways to support the campaign and take a stance against bullying. You can wear a pink shirt on the last Wednesday of February to show your support and initiate conversation, donate to or volunteer for an anti-bullying charity, buy official Pink Shirt Day merchandise, organize an anti-bullying event (rally, luncheon, fundraiser, etc.) at your school or workplace, and spread the word on social media with the hashtag #PinkShirtDay.

Like we’ve already mentioned, Pink Shirt Day isn’t the only anti-bullying campaign that has adopted a pink shirt as its symbol. Similar events include International Day of Pink held annually during the second week of April and New Zealand Pink Shirt Day occurring on the third Friday of May. Both focus specifically on anti-LGBTQ+ bullying.