What may have seemed like a fashion faux pas at Greentree School on Thursday, March 8, where students and staff came to school wearing pink, was actually a demonstration to help stop bullying.
Pink Shirt Day was observed throughout the country officially this year on February 29. Greentree School decided to participate a bit later than others.
“We are wearing pink shirts and armbands today to say that we don’t want bullying in our school and that we pride ourselves on having a bullying free school,” said Dave Watson, family resource worker at Greentree School. “Bullying is not permitted here, no exceptions.”
Throughout the day, classes did presentations and activities to teach students the effects of bullying and what they can do to stop it.
St. Anthony’s School also showed their support for the campaign on February 3 by wearing pink and doing activities throughout the day.
Bullying is repeated physical, verbal, or emotional abuse directed at a specific target. Some of the motives behind bullying can include the strong need to control or dominate, envy, resentment, or low self esteem.
Watson explained that when a complaint arises that someone may be the victim of bullying, teachers monitor the situation for eight to ten days to determine if bullying is indeed happening.
“We don’t want to call somebody something they are not. We don’t want to say someone is a bully, when they are not, because that can damage them too,” said Watson.
The most common places people are bullied are at school or at work. With the expansion of mobile devices and social networking websites, such as Facebook and Twitter, cyber-bullying is increasing in prominence.
There are a number of signs that may indicate someone is the victim of bullying, such as unexplained injuries, losing interest in friends, afraid of going to school or work, begins to do poorly in school or work, or being sad, moody, angry, anxious, or depressed when they arrive home.
One of the keys to stop bullies is to get parents involved.
“Depending on what happens, we try to get the parents involved and determine what happens from there,” said Watson. “We do everything possible to discourage bullying.”
Wearing pink is not the only way Greentree is combatting bullying. Every two to three years the school does its massive Take the Time Day, where Grade 5 and 6 students get together and sort out their differences. Volunteers, such as parents and professionals help the students.
“We get them together to try and realize that we’re all in this together,” said Watson. “We try to do it every two or three years and it’s been really successful.”
Locally, students and school staff are taking the matter seriously. The Friends of Rachel (FOR) club at DVSS are showing bullies that their actions don’t belong anywhere. FOR club members will intervene when they see bullying happen and provide counselling to bullies and their victims. Teachers and staff at Greentree and St. Anthony’s Schools are ready to help as well.
