Comrades and Cousins;
Fifteen years ago, a small group of kids in Nova Scotia surrounded a classmate with support and took a stand against bullying. Their message was clear: we stand with the bullied, not the bully.
Since that first action, Pink Shirt Day has grown, celebrated every February with the pink shirt as a symbol of solidarity and strength against hatred and bullying, against mobbing and ridicule. Collective strength enables us to stand up against all kinds of threats and unacceptable behaviour.
Children who learn to take a stand at a young age against hatred and intimidation grow into compassionate young adults and treat others with kindness.
It’s hard work to learn better behaviours, but it creates a virtuous cycle that leads toward a better and more inclusive world. Kids need models in this effort. For adults, learning new behaviours is an even bigger challenge, but future generations are looking to us to do better – to break the old patterns and to address the lifelong impacts they have.
We encourage members to wear a pink shirt on Wednesday the 23rd, but you can do a lot more: Help make sure that young people, parents and teachers have resources to deal with bullying:
https://www.pinkshirtday.ca/resources and https://witsprogram.ca/. Talk with your co-workers and family. Work with your local to stand up collectively to bad behaviour in your workplace and demand that it stop.
The message of this day is that collectively we can support those who face bullying and hate, and that together we don’t have to accept victimization.
In Solidarity,
Julee Sanderson
1st Vice-National President