(Submitted photo/Jenifer Kahl)

By Derek Craddock

PINK SHIRT DAY

It’s Pink Shirt Day in P.A.

Feb 23, 2022 | 12:00 PM

The last Wednesday in February is here which means thousands from across Canada will be wearing pink.

Pink Shirt Day, which began in 2009, is a day to promote awareness of the dangers and harm of bullying.

As many students are in February break, schools in Prince Albert marked Pink Shirt Day last Wednesday.

“The Minister of Education proclaimed February 16^th Pink Shirt Day in Saskatchewan,” said Superintendent of Schools for Sask. Rivers, Corey Trann.

“Last week we had many schools who were celebrating and recognizing pink shirt day by wearing pink shirts.”

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Trann said each school had a different approach to the day but the theme of kindness to all remained the same.

He added the division held a contest to create a Pink Shirt Day logo for the whole division with the motto “Raise Your Voice.” The motto and logo were created by Grade 6 students at Ecole Arthur Pechey School.

Moving to the present day and many in the community will commemorate Pink Shirt Day but some will mark it for a different reason.

LJ Tyson is with Prince Albert Pride and said many people forget how the day started out.

“It started with students taking a stand against homophobic bullying. I’m still happy that it means something against all bullying now, but it’s so important to me that people don’t take the LGBTQ+ community out of it.”

Pink Shirt Day started following the actions of two high school students in Nova Scotia who witnessed a fellow student bullied and called homophobic names just for wearing a pink shirt.

The movement that followed has since spread across the country and to other parts of the world.

To further spread the message of inclusion and support for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community facing bullying, the International Day of Pink was created which will take place on April 13 this year.

Another local program, Kindred Spirits at the YWCA, is marking Pink Shirt Day with a day of celebrations for children and parents who are in the program.

“We want to celebrate everyone no matter who they are and show that we are speaking up for those people that feel that they can’t, or they don’t have a voice,” said Manager Tami Popoff. “We want people to come together by wearing their pink shirts either to school and to work and out in the public or even at home so that we can raise awareness for bullying and to stand up against the bullying and tell people that it’s not okay to be bullied no matter who we are.”

For more details on this year’s Pink Shirt Day campaign, you can visit the national website.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @pa_craddock