Canadians donned pink shirts yesterday as a show of solidarity against bullying.

Pink Shirt Day was originally started in Canada in 2007, and is now recognized by numerous countries internationally.

Principal of St. Mary's School Brandon Bailey says they tries to put an emphasis on positivity, as opposed to bullying itself.

"At St. Mary's, we really want to focus on the idea of kindness and the action you can do to show kindness to others, and how you can support others. Not looking at the negative so much, but looking at what we can do to lift up our neighbours."

As part of the event, students participated in a kindness wall, where they were invited to write down ways in which they can show kindness.

Kelly Downes, Family School Liaison Worker at St. Mary's says she feels the conversation around bullying needs to be re-framed.

"The word 'bullying' is a strong word, and I'm not taking away form that word, but it is used out of context at times. If we look at what is bullying and what is kindness, the kids needs to know the difference, know what is bullying, know what's just rude or mean, and how to behave daily."

Principal Bailey says the proper response to bullying behaviour is another thing that needs to be emphasized.

"I think what we ultimately want is to break that cycle, because if someone does something mean to you, your instinct would be to fight evil with evil, dark with dark. No, we're going to turn it, we're going to take the high road, and we're going to do something positive in that moment."

For more information on Pink Shirt Day, click here.

 

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