I’m excited to announce that I will be speaking at St. Mark School tomorrow, February 23 for Pink Shirt Day 2022! This will be the 8th time I’ve spoken at a school for Pink Shirt Day (8 of the last 9 years since I missed 2021 due to the pandemic).
I will be speaking to students from Kindergarten – Grade 6 and as part of my presentation, will be giving them my Kindness Challenge.
Simply put, when we decrease screen time, we increase kindness. I will be challenging them to not have screens:
- In the bedroom
- At the dinner table
- 60 minutes before bedtime
The theme of Pink Shirt Day this year is “Life Each Other Up”. It’s about celebrating diversity and so I’ll be talking about recognizing and embracing what makes us unique (different) but also learning to recognize and celebrate what makes us similar. I do this through frisbee and will also being showing them what’s possible with frisbee, including a frisbee trick shot!
An important part of my message, especially on Pink Shirt Day, is the value of being pro-kindness rather than anti-bullying. Whatever we focus on happens. Rather than calling it anti-bullying day, we should be calling it pro-kindness day.
Huge thanks to Lynn for having me in and to Bucars RV for sponsoring my presentation this year!
About Pink Shirt Day
In 2007, David Shepherd, Travis Price and their teenage friends organized a high-school protest to wear pink in sympathy with a Grade 9 boy who was being bullied [for wearing a pink shirt]…[They] took a stand against bullying when they protested against the harassment of a new Grade 9 student by distributing pink T-shirts to all the boys in their school. ‘I learned that two people can come up with an idea, run with it, and it can do wonders,’ says Mr. Price, 17, who organized the pink protest. ‘Finally, someone stood up for a weaker kid.’ So Mr. Shepherd and some other headed off to a discount store and bought 50 pink tank tops. They sent out message to schoolmates that night, and the next morning they hauled the shirts to school in a plastic bag. As they stood in the foyer handing out the shirts, the bullied boy walked in. His face spoke volumes. ‘It looked like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders,’ Mr. Price recalled. The bullies were never heard from again.