Pink Shirt Day Across Schools

Every year, on the last Wednesday of February, schools and communities across the country take a stand against bullying by wearing a pink shirt. Wednesday, February 25th was recognized as Pink Shirt Day and anti-bullying day this year in Canada and other parts of the world. The main objective of this campaign is to uplift and embrace others in our communities. As of 2026, whether it is race, identity, sexual orientation, or culture, Canada continues to be more and more diverse. Putting in the effort to accept and appreciate those around you is the whole point of Pink Shirt Day—inclusion for everyone.

In September 2007, in Berwick, Nova Scotia, a grade 9 student walked into school wearing a pink polo shirt. He quickly became a target of homophobia and bullying. As word spread, twelfth grade students David Shepherd and Travis Price saw first hand what the student was going through and decided that “this is not how our school [should be run].” The next day they bought 75 pink women's tank tops, made headbands and wristbands, and took it to Facebook to spread the message to everyone they knew. In an interview with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Travis said “this is going to be the best fight I'm ever going to fight in.” At the school, around 700-850 students showed up wearing pink, and everyone was united and felt a sense of belonging. The student finally had a helping hand, and he wasn't known anymore as the bullied kid in school. He became simply a kid again, someone who wanted to read, write, and learn just like everyone else.

Bullying takes form in many different ways, including physical, verbal, social, or written. Today, the most common form is cyber-bullying. The Cyber-bullying Research Center has tracked cyber-bullying trends since 2016. The data shows that being a target of online harassment at any point of a person's lifetime has increased from 33.6% in 2016 to 58.2% in 2025. Today, you can find any little detail of someone's life from just one Google search. AI generated deepfakes, anonymous harassments, and online exploitation are just a few examples of different ways people are harmed online. To prevent online harm, take care of your devices, accounts, and passwords; report or block offenders; and learn ways to identify cyber-bullying.

In honour of Pink Shirt Day, SAC and COPE have initiated a Kindness Campaign this past week promoting small acts of kindness in our school community to help make Earl Haig feel more connected or supportive. Kindness grams were distributed to each student with a small candy and paper shirt cut out with a list of kindness prompts on Wednesday. SAC has also put together a Pink Shirt Day video (embedded above). Kind messages on sticky notes were stuck on a pillar installation in the main hall, offering students to take one for themselves, and kindness notes were also attached to the granola bite morning snacks on Friday.

The mission of Pink Shirt Day goes beyond February 25th, so make an effort to hold the door for someone, compliment the first few people you see, make a donation to an anti-bullying program, and, especially, call out bullying to prevent it from getting worse.

In Crisis: www.kidshelpphone.ca

Works Cited

Pink Shirt Day (Anti-Bullying Day) - Statistics Canada, 22 February 2023, https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/plus/3037-pink-shirt-day-anti-bullying-day . Accessed 20 February 2026.

“All the Latest Cyberbullying Statistics for 2025.” BroadbandSearch, 3 February 2026, https://www.broadbandsearch.net/blog/cyber-bullying-statistics . Accessed 20 February 2026.

“Bullying – we can all help stop it.” Ontario.ca, 13 November 2019, https://www.ontario.ca/page/bullying-we-can-all-help-stop-it . Accessed 20 February 2026.

“Travis Price: Day of Pink | Teachers' Zone.” Canadian Museum of History, https://www.historymuseum.ca/teachers-zone/2slgbtqia-history-and-identities-in-canada/grassroots-leadership/travis-price-day-of-pink/ . Accessed 20 February 2026.