In Canada, Feb. 26 is recognized as Pink Shirt Day, an occasion to raise awareness about the prevalence and impacts of bullying.
At Moose Kerr School in Aklavik, students and staff have decided one day is not enough, and will dedicate the entire month to acts of kindness.
"We have a cultural calendar, and every month has a particular theme," said principal Janine Johnson. "It's actually just a coincidence, I suppose, but February is our acts of kindness month.
"We are encouraging students to perform acts of kindness. Staff, as well, have drawn teachers' names to perform a single act of kindness throughout the month."
A central part of February's programming at the school will be "a beautiful initiative" launched by former principal Velma Ilasiak, Johnson added.
"You've probably heard of the Moose Hide Campaign, [which uses] little square moose hide pins to promote awareness of violence against women," Johnson said. "[Ilasiak] came up with this idea of something called lateral love.
"[Lateral love uses] pieces of moose hide as well SA国际影视传媒� students are working on designing them now actually as we speak, beading a little design on it or sewing a button on it with a safety pin. Then there's a little card that goes along with it that you can give somebody as an act of kindness.
Each card is inscribed with the same message, which reads as follows:
"You are receiving this gift as a symbol of the highest value that is shared among Indigenous people: love. The lateral love pin is a reminder that you are loved and an encouragement to pay it forward to those in your life. Let's make the world a better place, one pin at a time!"
While Moose Kerr's students and staff will be spending the entirety of February being kind to each other and the people in the community, that doesn't mean they won't be observing Pink Shirt Day on the 26th.
Johnson and her colleagues have ordered pink sweaters for every member of the faculty and student body SA国际影视传媒� about 180 people all told SA国际影视传媒� to be worn on that day. The design on the garments was created by Kadence Lanahmats George, a 13-year-old artist from Tsleil-Waututh Nation in British Columbia.
Many other schools across the territory are taking similar stands against bullying, though their methods vary.
At K'atl'odeeche First Nation's Chief Sunrise Education Centre, for example, staff take "an eclectic, multi-pronged approach that responds to what the students need in context," according to principal Deborah Reid.
"Formally, anti-bullying is part of our overall behaviour conduct model that encourages positive behaviours and works to prevent bullying situations from arising," Reid said. "Like all schools, we have policies and procedures that we follow to ensure safety and inclusivity.
"We do typically participate in the Pink Shirt Day activities and we have socio-emotional and self-regulation programs that support students to make good choices, deal with conflict and respond with kindness."
While bullying persists at schools in the NWT and across the country, Johnson believes the problem may have diminished to a degree, thanks in part to initiatives like Pink Shirt Day, and the efforts of educators and parents to impart good values in students.
"I'm sure it happens," she said of bullying. "I think that it's probably happening less so now. People have become more aware of what bullying is like, and we have a definition of it now. I think schools have really made the effort to try to create empathetic citizens and [to teach students] to be able to put yourself in somebody else's shoes.
"Hopefully, students are kind of thinking about how somebody feels, or how they would feel if they were in that situation," she added. "I'm sure [bullying] still happens, but I know there's real concerted efforts to bring awareness to it, so I hope it's happening less and less."
