Students wear pink to fight bullies

by Roger Sinasohn (Subscribe to Roger Sinasohn's posts) Sep 15th 2007 3:04PM

Categories: Newborns, Teens & tweens, In The News, Education, Kid Decor & Style

When a male first year student showed up for the first day of school at Central Kings Rural High School in Cambridge, Nova Scotia, Canada wearing a pink shirt, a group of six to ten older students made fun of him, calling him a homosexual and threatening to beat him up. Unfortunately, this sort of thing happens all too often and is far too frequently overlooked by other students and staff.

Seniors David Shepherd and Travis Price decided it had to stop. Using the internet, they encouraged fellow students to wear pink the next day and even bought 75 pink tank tops for boys to wear. They also brought a pink basketball and pink material to make headbands and arm bands. The pair estimate that about half the school's 830 students wore pink.

It seemed to get the message across. "The bullies got angry," said Travis. "One guy was throwing chairs (in the cafeteria). We're glad we got the response we wanted." The bullies, he says, "keep giving us dirty looks, but we know we have the support of the whole student body. Kids don't need this in their lives, worrying about what to wear to school. That should be the last thing on their minds."

David explained their motivation: "Our intention was to stand up for this kid so he doesn't get picked on." When one of the bullies asked him if he knew that wearing pink indicated homosexuality, he told him that he didn't care and that neither should anyone else. "Something like the colour of your shirt or pants, that's ridiculous," he said.

When the student that had been bullied put on one of the pink shirts and saw all the other pink, "he was all smiles," David said. "It was like a big weight had been lifted off his shoulders."

I'm definitely not happy that the bullying happened in the first place, but the show of support and the anti-bullying stance of the student body brings a joyful tear to my eye. My hat is off to David and Travis; they are true heroes.

Source

Comments (8)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

ExpectingExecutive 9-15-2007 @ 4:04PM

I love to hear about stories where young men and women are mature, aware and concerned enough about their fellow classmates that they use their creativity and humor to address issues such as bullying. We shouldn't underestimate the power of peer pressure to push positive messages!

Good for them - their parents should be proud, I am.

Erin
www.ExpectingExecutive.com

Joy 9-15-2007 @ 4:18PM

Praise to God for boys like this. Maybe we get used to always hearing the worst. I'm glad for a happy one for a change. YEAH David and Travis.

Judy 9-15-2007 @ 9:08PM

I love stories like this. It renews my faith in young people and I love hearing about resistance against bullies!

queenoqueens 9-15-2007 @ 9:21PM

Gee, can I adopt these boys?

What creative thinkers. Natural leaders for sure. Maybe they should run for office...

Maureen 9-15-2007 @ 11:22PM

Thanks for posting this story! It is wonderful to hear stories like this.... With all the bad things one reads about day in and day out, it is easy to forget that there are a lot of intelligent, caring kids out there.

LS 9-16-2007 @ 9:40AM

Maybe our school districts should look at kids like these and take a lesson from them. It should make them think twice about some of the stupid bans that they impose on our kids, like "no wearing red, because it's a 'gang color'"

Give the kids a little of the *right* kind of power, and amazing things can happen.

deb kaulback 9-19-2007 @ 12:38AM

This is so inspiring!!!! It would be awsome if more students were like these young men. It is absolutely ridiculous that bullies still exist!!! Perhaps this will start a ripple effect.

DaMoKi Bob 9-19-2007 @ 11:25AM

It would have been really great if the teachers and the admin. staff had worn pink too, but they would probably fear political ramifications. The actions of the students shows is the power in a group standing for the individual because it is the right thing to do.

I would take the bet that the parents of the bullies are bullies too and habitually use anti-gay slurs. Like another poster (Joy) said today on another blog, "you learn what you live."

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