So you are on the 8:30 a.m. ferry out of Langdale on Wednesday morning. You’re reading the newspaper and enjoying a cup of coffee, when out of nowhere, about a hundred children and adults — all wearing bright pink shirts — appear and start to dance, flash mob style.
It was quite the scene aboard the Queen of Coquitlam on Feb. 26 when staff and students from Langdale Elementary School launched into their choreographed dance with Sara Bareilles’ song Brave playing in the background.
The flash mob was warmly received by all on board, eliciting cheers and smiles. The students should be very proud of what they did — and the unique way they went about it.
Wednesday was National Anti-Bullying Day, also known as Pink Shirt Day. The pink shirt movement started several years ago when two Nova Scotia high school students took a stand.
David Shepherd and Travis Price saw a Grade 9 boy at their school being bullied and harassed. They said ‘enough is enough’ and protested the bullying by buying pink T-shirts for all the boys in their school.
The movement gained steam seemingly overnight, and the next day at school, the students handed out the pink T-shirts. When the Grade 9 boy walked in the door and saw the show of solidarity and the outpouring of support from his fellow students, we can only imagine what he must have felt. It probably changed his life. Going from one day feeling the lowest of lows, this student went to feeling the highest of highs knowing that other students had his back and that he wasn’t alone in his fight.
Bullying in our society continues to be rampant.
Did you know that out of 35 countries, Canada has the ninth highest rate of reported bullying among 13 year olds? And 47 per cent of all parents in Canada have reported that their child has been bullied. Yes, there are children out there who bully others, and many who don’t realize the damage and the hurt they are causing. But then there are students like the ones from Langdale Elementary and all our other Coast schools who are standing up to say that bullying is wrong and will not be tolerated by anyone in our society.
We could not be more proud of all the students and the message they conveyed.
We adults could learn a thing or two from our future generations. All too often we forget what is right and wrong in our passions to get our message across, be that in public meetings or in online message board discussions.
So even though Wednesday was Pink Shirt Day, every day should be Pink Shirt Day.
Maybe one day we will all finally get the message, and the need for Pink Shirt Day will be just a thing of the past.
— Ian Jacques
