Pink Shirt Day began in Berwick, Nova Scotia, Canada in 2007 when David Shepherd, Travis Price and a group of students decided to defend a kid who was bullied for wearing a pink shirt. In a show of solidarity, many of his peers turned up to school the next day wearing pink shirts, and PSD was born.
Every seven minutes someone is bullied on a playground in Canada, according to bullying.org. In fact, a recent survey found cyberbullying surpassed drugs and alcohol as the top concern among Canadian parents. Bullying comes in many forms, including but not limited to verbal attacks, physical violence, threats and intimidation.
The deaths of Amanda Todd and Rehtaeh Parsons are just two high-profile examples of bullied teens who felt they had no other option. While suicide is never the result of one cause, bullying can have a long-lasting effect on suicide risk and mental health. The relationship between bullying and suicide is stronger for lesbian, gay and bisexual youth than for their heterosexual peers.
Unifor supports Pink Shirt Day which is celebrated on February 24th. This is about working together to prevent or stop bullying by celebrating people’s differences and promoting positive relationships.