The Boys and Girls Clubs of the Battlefords program staff celebrate Pink Shirt Day Wednesday. (Submitted photo/ Nicole Combres)

By Angela Brown

Think Pink

Boys and Girls Clubs show support for Pink Shirt Day with message of kindness

Feb 26, 2020 | 5:01 PM

KIds attending the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Battlefords Wednesday each made a personal commitment not to tolerate bullies to recognize Pink Shirt Day.

Executive Director Nicole Combres said the club members took part in a couple of projects to raise awareness of the issue of bullying.

All club staff wore pink T-shirts Wednesday with the message: “Be kind to one another,” to show their support for the campaign.

“We are all really big fans of Ellen DeGeneres, and when she closes each of her shows she reminds us all to be kind to one another. We felt that is really at the heart of Pink Shirt Day,” Combres said. “It’s really about being kind to one another.”

Each child and youth participating in the club’s programs also took a “Kids Against Bullying” pledge.

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Combres said the pledge identifies each child as someone who is going to “stand up against bullying.” The pledge said they will speak up when they see bullying, reach out to others who are bullied, and will be a friend to someone who is being bullied.

“We thought it was important that our members are writing their names on these pledges; they are taking the pledge,” Combres said. “These pledges will be posted around the club as a visual reminder of the importance of not only being kind to one another but also standing up and speaking out for children, youth and adults who are experiencing bullying.”

Kids also participated in another project called “The Wrinkled Heart” that aims to show how a victim is impacted by a bully’s hurtful words and behaviour. Each child was tasked with cutting a heart-shape from a piece of paper, and making a fold on their paper heart to represent every time the heart suffers a hurtful word or action.

“It demonstrates how after bullying-words and actions our hearts aren’t the same,” Combres said. “It’s a really important visual reminder that our words and behaviours have a huge impact on the people around us.”

Many Battlefords area schools also recognized Pink Shirt Day with various activities. McKitrick Community School had a pancake breakfast as part of its initiatives.

The Pink Shirt Day anti-bullying campaign is celebrated internationally on Feb. 26. It started in 2007 when two students at a Nova Scotia high school organized a campaign to give out pink tops to all students as a symbol of protest after a new student was bullied for wearing a pink shirt to school.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW