This past Wednesday was Pink Shirt Day, an initiative held on the last Wednesday every February to raise awareness about the effects of bullying.

It started in 2007 after a Grade 9 student in Cambridge, N.S., was bullied for wearing a pink shirt to school. Two Grade 12 students in Berwick, N.S. SA国际影视传媒� Davis Shepherd and Travis Price SA国际影视传媒� got wind of what happened and decided to make a point. They bought 50 pink shirts and handed them out to their classmates to wear the next day. 

Both Ecole St. Joseph School and Weledeh Catholic School got in on the act and held its own events on Wednesday. At St. Joe's, Pink Shirt Day was the culmination of a month-long drive to incrase kindness and empathy.

Paul Kelly, the school's principal, said everything started at the beginning of February with teachers handing out special empathy cards to students spotted showing kindness.

"Our 30 Days of Kindness board brought excitement each day with a new act of kindness announced during morning announcements, encouraging students to make a positive impact," he said.

There were also some scavenger hunts where students looked for letters to crack a code word that dealt with kindness, he added, and there was even some pink milk served to students on Wednesday.

"ItSA国际影视传媒檚 been an inspiring month filled with compassion and creativity," he said.

Over at Weledeh, students were busy all week long doing various activities and projects with Pink Shirt Day themes, said principal Alicia Larade.

"Students have and will continue to participate in discussions and learn about the origins of Pink Shirt Day and what it represents," she said.

They also got to create pink shirts with their own messages and images of what Pink Shirt Day meant to them, she added, with the finished designs being displayed on a bulletin board in the school's main hallway.

"They (also) discussed what it means to be an upstander, why it's important to speak up, and practice different strategies to intervene safely through role-playing activities," she said.

The older students had their own project about being a "bucket-filler", said Larade, which saw them write positive office referrals for their classmates to SA国际影视传媒渇ill their bucket.SA国际影视传媒�

"The intention for the project is for students to recognize and acknowledge genuine acts of kindness," she said. "This project not only recognizes individual acts of kindness but also inspires others to spread positivity, ultimately creating a middle school where kindness is valued and celebrated."

It's one thing to tell students why bullying is wrong, but it's all about getting them to understand why it's wrong and Larade said students did that by connecting with personal experience, developing empathy and visualization.

"By participating in these activities, students will gain a deeper understanding of why Pink Shirt Day is important and how they can contribute to creating a more positive and inclusive school environment," she said.