A wave of pink took over much of Lake Cowichan last week during Pink Shirt Day, an anti-bullying campaign that’s been embraced across Canada by schools, businesses and private citizens.
At the local branch of the Vancouver Island Regional Library, staff members participate every year by wearing pink shirts but this year decided to pull together book displays of related materials.
“We pulled lots of books about bullying and inter-personal conflict,” said library manager Kristen Rumohr.
“We’ve got lots of stuff in our kids books about what is bullying, cyber bullying, that sort of thing. And some in our adult literature, sort of adult interactions and how adults can support kids in dealing with bullying and that sort of thing.”
Rumohr recommended parents check out bullying expert Barbara Coloroso’s The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander, which the library carries.
“She actually talks about different kids’ roles in bullying. So kids who are doing bullying, kids that are being bullied and the bystanders and how those three groups interact,” said Rumohr. “So it’s a lot about how you can support all the kids who are involved in a bullying interaction.”
Pink Shirt Day was first organized in 2007 by two students in Berwick, Nova Scotia, after a male classmate was bullied for wearing a pink shirt.