ARVIAT
A sea of colour backed the message to end bullying in Kivalliq schools this past month in Arviat.
The blue steps at John Arnalukjuak High School were packed with students from all three Arviat schools during Pink Shirt Day - photo courtesy of Gord Billard |
Students and staff members from all three Arviat schools took part in John Arnalukjuak High School's (JAHS) annual Pink Shirt Day.
Teacher Courtney Cribb said members of the school's Leadership and Resiliency Program (LRP) began the Pink Shirt Day activities in Arviat a number of years ago.
She said the catalyst for the event started with two Nova Scotia high school students and has since spread across the country.
"The two high school students (stuck) up for a Grade 9 student who was being bullied for wearing a pink shirt," said Cribb.
"Then, as part of that, they decided to buy a number of pink shirts and give them out to a bunch of students at their school in support of the bullied student, and to stand up against bullying.
"Since then, it's become a thing across Canada and Feb. 25 is now known as national Pink Shirt Day.
"We've been doing it at our school for the past while now with the exception of missing it this past year so we continued on with it again this year."
Cribb said the Arviat message for this year's Pink Shirt day was we're stronger when we stand together.
She said when people stand together, bullies don't have a chance.
"We held a day of activities, which we started with a pink pancake breakfast, with members of the community such as the RCMP serving the students at the school.
"Then we had the entire student body come together to watch the movie, Bully, a documentary of different kids who have been bullied.
"We talked to students about the purpose of why they were all wearing pink shirts, what bullying is, the different types of bullying that can occur, and what they can do to be a friend who helps, instead of just standing by and watching.
"The other activities included a station where students recorded anti-bullying messages, low-rope activities, races with built-in messages against bullying, banner-making and word scrambles.
"We also had all the students, from kindergarten to Grade 12, gather on JAHS's blue steps while wearing their pink shirts to view a number of anti-bullying videos made by Arviat students, and a number of skits put on by the teachers, before all three schools were presented with a pledge sheet for the students to sign and hang in their school."
When all was said and done, the elementary students received a total of 350 pink shirts, the middle school about 250, the high school 250, while 90 more were given to staff members of the three schools.
Ross Paterson of the LRP said it's hard to say for certain if bullying has actually decreased at the JAHS since the anti-bullying programs began.
He said bullying may well be something students and staff continually push against to bring more awareness to it and empower bystanders.
"To be successful, we have to really target the bystander to speak out and that was the reason behind our theme this year," said Paterson.
"If someone's feeling left out, bring them into the group to make them feel better.
"It makes everyone stronger and the person doesn't have to worry about feeling isolated anymore.
"The kids are getting the message and, eventually, I'm confident we'll overcome a good percentage of the problem."
Paterson said the pledge sheets hanging in the schools with messages of trying to be compassionate, being a reason for change in the community, and not excluding or humiliating, serve to remind students what the movement is all about.
He said continued work on awareness is one of the keys to lowering the number of bullying incidents at Arviat's three schools.
"When I grew up, we'd go to the adults to say a kid was (bullying) us and they'd ask us what we were going to do about it.
"Now, as adults, we know it is our job to do something about it, and we can't turn it around on the kids and expect them to have the answers to questions we don't know the answers to.
"The school feels committed to have the posters up for awareness and the special projects we do continue to have an impact.
"It's a matter of continuing to carry the message forward until we reach where we want to be and that day is getting closer."
