Students pledged many things on Pink Shirt Day, but advocates say much more is needed than token words of support. (Spencer Sterritt/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Spencer Sterritt

friendship and smiles

Kindness, not pink shirts, will help erase bullying: student advocates

Feb 26, 2020 | 2:30 PM

NANAIMO — A board in the foyer of John Barsby Secondary School specifically used for Pink Shirt Day was barely used.

Only a handful of students on Wednesday, Feb. 26 had written nice things on it, in an effort to raise awareness about bullying.

Looking around the school, essentially only the teachers at John Barsby were wearing pink shirts.

“It’s not a big thing, I don’t know if we realize how important it is,” Grade 12 student Jane Dean told NanaimoNewsNOW.

“A lot of students are like ‘Oh bullying, that doesn’t happen anymore.’ I don’t think people realize that it’s a problem because they don’t see it. Especially now that we talk about bullying more, we don’t really realize what’s happening. The mental bullying, you don’t see that.”

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Her friend Alia Johnston said one of the key reasons bullying remains a problem after decades of initiatives and campaigns like Pink Shirt Day is people being bystanders.

“I think it’s important to understand that if it was you (being bullied), how would you feel and how would you feel about the people around you? Would you feel like it’s a good thing to have them watch what’s going on? Or would you hope they would stop it?”

Instead of wearing a pink shirt once a year, Johnston encouraged people to be kind year-round.

“When you’re kind to someone else, you get an instant satisfaction out of it. If you volunteer your time, if you talk to more people, you feel so good about yourself. It’s way better than posting a picture and getting a good number of likes.”

Grade 12 student Sydney Formaniuk said John Barsby and other schools have worked hard to bring people together.

“You want the school to participate and in that way help students get out there and show their talents. They’re getting to know the people who have other interests and learning about each other to find more respect in each other.”

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit