Pink Shirt Day was started in 2007 by Nova Scotia teenagers Travis Price and David Shepherd. Their motivation: the bullying of a friend who decided to wear a pink polo shirt to school. Price and Shepherd responded by purchasing 75 pink shirts and distributing them among the school’s student population. Eventually, hundreds of students bought and wore pink shirts to show support for the boys’ friend and their cause.
In the years since, Pink Shirt Day has spread across the continent. Leading the charge is Travis Price, who continues to campaign on behalf of Pink Shirt Day and against bullying by visiting schools all over Canada.
“The growth here has been great,” Price said of the Pink Shirt movement. When asked if he had any advice for young people facing a bully, Price replied: “There is always somebody there to help. There is always somebody there to listen.”
As for Pink Shirt Day’s future, Price says “I am never, ever, ever going to give this up.”
Price’s message has been embraced by a number of educators, politicians, and prominent organizations. That includes the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who will be hosting an interactive video conference today designed to get kids talking about bullying and its consequences.
You can learn more about the RCMP event, called RCMPTalks, by clicking here.
