Eastern Ontario students and adults celebrate Pink Shirt Day

On Wednesday, students across Canada, and right here in eastern Ontario wore their best pink, in an effort to raise awareness and spread kindness.

Called Pink Shirt Day, it involves children and adults wearing pink to stand up against bullying.

It was started by Grade 12 students in Nova Scotia, who brought and distributed shirts to schoolmates after a Grade 9 student was bullied for wearing a pink one.

In Kingston, kindergarten students at Welborne Avenue Public School got lessons in using kind words, and learning about the importance of the day.

Five-year-old Isla Cameron says it’s a day to support others.

“A day when you have to be kind and generous to people,” she explains.

Principal Alison Fraser says kindness is a subject raised all year long, but Pink Shirt Day allows teachers and parents to hone in on the lesson.

“Pink Shirt Day is about spreading kindness and helping students to understand in a more focused way the importance of kindness, but also the importance of inclusivity and acceptance,” she explains.

For the young students' lessons, the children were encouraged to say something nice about their friends and classmates, and those words were written down on hearts and given out.

Bennett McLean says his words made him feel good.

“Kind, funny, silly,” he said of what people wrote about him.

“It shows just how much you care about (your friends),” says five-year-old Frankie of the notes.

A feel good lesson, which early childhood educator Vivian Struthers says helps launch the conversation from an early age.

“It’s making everyone realized that they’re part of our community,” she explains. “And part of the group, without even realizing it.”

Fraser says it’s important to learn at any age.

“It is lifelong learning and it’s a lifelong important skill,” she explains.

Students like Isla say they take what they learn one day to use it all year.

“It’s not just today you have to be kind, but every day - like every day is Pink Shirt Day,” she says.