Pink shirts, pink hats, pink sweaters - all were out in force in businesses and schools on Wednesday as communities around the province took a stand against bullying.
Several people here in our office took up the pink challenge as the province proclaimed Feb. 25 anti-bullying day to support efforts to end bullying behaviours in schools and communities across the province.
The Ministry of Education has developed a resource for parents that has been distributed to all public, independent and Band schools to help families better understand their shared role in bullying prevention. The parent resource brochure and Internet safety tips are published in 14 languages and can be found online at www.bced.gov.bc.ca/sco/.
All 60 school districts have codes of conduct in place reflecting the legislation passed in the fall of 2007. This step fulfils a commitment of government to institute "zero tolerance" of bullying in B.C. schools. School districts across the province have set up student web forums, introduced anti-bullying programs facilitated by local police and community groups, and have made information available through school district websites to help parents deal with children who are either bullied or being bullies.
It's a great cause and one that everyone should support. After all, who likes a bully? Who hasn't at one point in their life been a target of a bully? It's sad that in our society we have to have an anti-bullying day because every day should be anti-bullying day, but by showing support to this cause, as so many in this community did on Wednesday, we can start to end the bullying in our schools and in our communities.Slow downThis message should be a simple one for drivers, but some of us appear to have forgotten. In the past few weeks, two serious accidents have occurred on Highway 101 near Conrad Road, one resulting in the death of a woman and the other sending a second woman to hospital with critical injuries.
One resident emailed us recently stating the highway and that stretch of road should be changed. While we applaud the sentiment, how many more lives have to be impacted by death or injury because drivers are not travelling relative to conditions? Slow down - that's the simple and logical message.
