A sea of pink. That is what Brooks Secondary School Student Council president Kyle Auclair hopes to see today, Wednesday, February 27.
It is Pink Shirt Day across Canada, a day to raise awareness about bullying in all its forms from cyberbullying to gay-bashing and racism.
The idea for the day began after an incident that happened in 2007 in Nova Scotia. On his first day of high school, in the small town of Cambridge, a grade nine boy wore a pink polo shirt and was mocked and called a homosexual.
Two grade 12 students, David Shepherd and Travis Price, heard the story and decided to take action. They went to a discount store and bought 50 bright pink T-shirts and tank tops to distribute to students in their school the next day.
Vancouver radio station CKNW AM 980 has been promoting the day and is selling Pink Shirt Day shirts online. The Brooks student council bought a number of these shirts to sell. “In the past we’ve really tried to influence students to wear their pink T-shirts, but this year we’ve taken that a step further and started selling pink T-shirts,” said Auclair. To date, the students have sold 40 shirts.
However, students don’t have to wear the shirt with the Pink Shirt Day logo. For students who are not wearing an item of pink clothing today, the student council is handing out pink ribbons.
Auclair expects to see about 50 to 60 per cent of students wearing pink. He said he hopes that as Pink Shirt Day becomes increasingly popular it influences people to take part in other days to raise awareness of homophobia.
