The+End+of+Bullying+Begins+With+Me!


 * “The End of Bullying Begins With Me!”**

On October 20, people around the world wore pink to promote awareness of the climate of fear and disrespect created by bullying.

LifeWays, an organization that manages behavioral health treatment and services in southern Michigan, created the Pink Shirt Day Facebook Movement to promote awareness of bullying. To show support, activists were asked to wear pink clothing and/or accessories. By wearing pink, supporters told community members that bullying is not okay and will not be tolerated.

Many have asked, “Why pink?” to which Heather Bridgewater, LifeWays’ Public Relations and Marketing manager explains, “In 2007, a freshman boy in Nova Scotia was being bullied for wearing a pink shirt to school. When two high school seniors, David Shepherd and Travis Price, heard about it, they bought a bunch of pink shirts, handed them out and texted their friends to wear pink. The next day, nearly the entire student body was wearing pink to show their support.”

In response to the day’s events, Price, 17, was noted as saying, “I learned that two people can come up with an idea, run with it, and it can do wonders. Finally, someone stood up for a weaker kid.”

Over 73,000 people across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom stood up for the weaker kid Wednesday.

According to LifeWays, an estimated 30 percent of teens in the United States, or over 5.7 million, are involved in school bullying every year. More than 160,000 American students stay home from school each day from fear of being bullied. Bullying can have serious consequences, including tense, anxious, and fearful emotions. It generates difficulty focusing in school and decreased feelings of self-esteem and self-worth. It can increase social isolation leading to depression and in severe cases, like those reported recently, suicide.

Participants of the movement hope that bystanders, bullies, and those being bullied would know that there are many solutions to this problem. In an elementary or secondary school level, students can talk to teachers, counselors, parents, or other adults. Instead of passing blame, citizens are asked to take a stand and shout “the end of bullying begins with me!”