February 26th was Pink Shirt Day! Pink Shirt Day is a movement celebrated across the globe which raises awareness and support for anti-bullying programs.

Right To Play and our community partners believe everyone has the right to feel safe and included. Through the youth programming led by Community Mentors across Canada, we commit to this by embracing and celebrating our differences, as they represent the strengths of our uniqueness. We strive to honor the humanity in each other by making choices with kindness and understanding. We act with courage and compassion to support those who have been hurt and those that are hurting. We commit to treating others with respect and encouraging others to do the same.

A number of Community Mentors shared how they celebrated Pink Shirt Day and engaged in anti-bullying activities with their youth. Here are some of their stories.

“We asked the youth what a good friend/person looks like and had [the youth] write all their thoughts on our butterfly. It warmed my heart to see all the positive things they wrote!”

- Kristen Bob, Community Mentor

“[Some youth] have been struggling through being bullied at the local school. The other youth in our group have supported them by staying close to them when possible during school hours, and even speaking up for them to the teachers as well.

In programming, we have tried to include positive strategies for them to keep themselves safe during school hours so that the chances of them being bullied are decreased. From these discussions, we were able to order some pink shirts to be worn by all the group participants from the youngest After School Program Participant to the eldest high school aged participant on February 26th. Bullying awareness was the theme for programming that week as well.”

- Sarah Tabobondung, Community Mentor

“Every week [in February], we had a healthy opening and closing circle with youth. It helped us to direct our programming sessions, which is in need for them. For example, one day they shared an experience that happened to a friend in school; it was a case of cyber bulling through the online sites ([this is] common among school students). Sometimes it badly hurts [the student] and [then they] tend to stay away from school. Thus, we planned to focus on some activities for them to overcome those struggles and how they [can avoid] being a victim of bullying. We encouraged them to speak their thoughts and ideas, and also made them aware of sources which they can easily access to receive help.”

- Jobin Kulathinal Manu, Community Mentor