The sentiment surrounding Anti Bullying Day (Pink Shirt Day) is a lot like Christmas. People feel it should last all year long and not for just one day.
Chemainus Secondary School’s Leadership Class organized an assembly on the subject last Wednesday as part of Compassion Week with the presentation of a video and exercises designed to continue bringing awareness about eradicating anti-bullying behaviour of the personal and cyber kinds.
“It shouldn’t have a place,” said Hannah Pachet, a Grade 11 student from Crofton, who led the presentation along with Dyson Blitterswyk, Morgan Bottomley and Hannah DuMez. “Stop being a bystander and help people.
“It’s happening. Maybe some of you are stopping it, but not enough are.”
Pachet asked students to think about what it might be like for their own families in the future to follow if they don’t take action.
“Maybe down the road, your kids are going to be bullied because when you went to school you didn’t do anything,” she said.
Bullying takes a variety of different forms, but cyber bullying is perhaps the worst aspect for this generation that predecessors never encountered. The problem is widespread and just as much at Chemainus Secondary School as anywhere, judging from the student response.
“It happens in schools, it happens in workforces, it happens on the streets,” noted Pachet. “We need to stop that.”
She was very articulate during the presentation and captured an attentive group of students.
Pink Shirt Day is done for a reason to bring the problems to the forefront, Pachet said, but it needs to be about more than putting on a shirt for a day.
“Do you just put on the shirt, pretend you’re participating and go about your life?” she asked.
“Just because you wear pink, it doesn’t mean you’re supporting it.”
“Teasing is just the same as bullying,” added Bottomley.
Teasing, bullying, racism all fall under the same umbrella and student actions can go a long way toward halting it in future generations.
Pachet is part of the District Student Advisory Committee that runs Compassion Week. Other activities during the week at Chemainus Secondary School included Random Acts of Kindness (Monday), Multi Cultural (Tuesday), Green Day, Environmental (Thursday) and Diversity Day (Friday).
Pachet said bullying isn’t always visible.
“It is really hard to find. They don’t do it in the middle of a crowded hallway. A lot of it does happen on-line now.”
Despite her apparent calm demeanour, Pachet said it wasn’t easy for her being front and centre of the assembly.
“I don’t really do much public speaking,” she noted. “I was like internally screaming the entire time.”
