Winnipeg students unite in sea of pink to fight bullying

It was only a month ago when counsellor Rachel Foidart of École Noël-Ritchot, located in Winnipeg's St. Norbert area, had an idea.

She approached the student president with a very colourful concept, the colour being pink. At the time, she never thought this idea would be embraced by the entire student body.

Wednesday is Pink Shirt Day, where everyone, young and old, is encouraged to wear something pink to stop bullying.

Student president and Grade 8 student Emma Mogg took this a step further. It wasn't just about wearing something pink — she wanted to see a sea of pink at the school assembly on Wednesday, and that's exactly what she got.

"I was so surprised that so many people participated so well and that so many people tried so hard because sometimes in school events, no everyone will try as hard, and it was great to see that everyone did try as hard as they could."

The idea was to dress head to toe in pink: girls with pink eyelashes, boys with pink high-tops, teachers with dyed pink hair. It seemed like a dress code.

Running through the crowd was a giant pink-haired bird and the crowd even learned a song: "Main dans la main contre l'intimidation" (Hand in hand against bullying) and nothing else could be heard as the kids sang as loud as they could.

'It's a very good cause'

Although Mogg has not been a victim of bullying, she feels that she has to do something. She wants to be a veterinarian and feels destined to help those in need, animals and people.

"I find it's a very good cause. It's something that is going in the world, all over the place, in workplaces; for kids, adults, everybody goes through it or has known someone who has going through it. So it's something that affects everybody in some way," Mogg said.

Mogg believes the only way to stop it is to talk about it, to tell someone and speak up. That is what this day is about: communication. If you see it or experience it, tell someone.

Her counsellor agrees.

"With days like this, it's helping people to know that you can stop it, you can talk about it, and you can get help and it's not going to get worse," Foidart said. "It's not OK to reject or belittle anybody for whatever reason."

Mogg added, "There's always going to be somewhere there to listen to you and to help you out when you're in need … no one deserves to be bullied in any way, so this is really to try to stop bullying." 

In 2007, two Nova Scotia high school students organized the first Pink Shirt Day. The students started a protest to wear pink to support a fellow student who was bullied for wearing pink.

• Bullied student tickled pink by schoolmates' T-shirt campaign
• Students must stand up to bullies, says Pink Shirt Day co-founder

The protest turned into a nationwide movement, with people wearing pink at school and at work to bring awareness to all forms of bullying.