National Pink Day

Bullying is a growing problem in the world today and, every year, people hear of more and more incidents coming up regarding bullying in schools everywhere. And, although it is certainly a problem within schools, bullying doesn't stop there. It extends to the world outside of school and even into the virtual world of the internet, where young people have created a bit of a world of their own.

Bullying is unpredictable and it doesn't tend to follow any kind of rhyme or reason. It is merely the exertion of power over those who are weaker or who stand out as unusual. National Pink Day is a day dedicated to beating the bullies and breaking the cycle that creates and perpetuates this damaging behavior inside and outside of schools.

National Pink Day (also sometimes called Pink Shirt Day) was established in 2007 in Nova Scotia, Canada. It happened after a pair of students, David Shepherd and Travis Price, saw one of their fellow students at Central Kings Rural High School being bullied for no other reason than that student was wearing a pink shirt on the first day of school. Because of the association of pink with feminine things, this 9th grade boy was harassed for choosing to wear the color. But his two classmates weren't going to let the bullies win.

In a stroke of brilliance, these two got together and decided to show support for the student and take a stand against bullying by getting everyone at their school to wear a pink shirt the next day. In fact, the two boys were so committed that they went to a discount store and bought a bunch of pink shirts to pass out for anyone who didn't already have one. Pink Shirt Day was created to stomp out all bullying and spread understanding, and it's a concept spreading throughout the world.

What started in a small corner of Canada has become something of a world event. The day has also been associated with Anti-Bullying day, another day when the idea is to stand up for others and wear pink.