A deeper shade of PINK...

Well, I always knew pink was a great colour, and it has taken on an more poignant meaning with its prominence in the Breast Cancer awareness campaigns. But, just recently, pink has come to represent two boy's kindness and initiative to help stop bullying in their school...and it is a message that is spreading far and wide.

(above: David Shepherd and Travis Price)

On the first day of school this year at Central Kings Rural High School in Nova Scotia , a Grade 9 freshman at the school showed up wearing a pink shirt. No doubt, while dressing that morning, he was blissfully unaware of the attention he was about to attract... and the wave of positive change that would arise from such a seemingly trivial decision.

My local newspaper, The News, reported, "Pink Shirts for Peaceful Schools is an idea that grew out of a bullying incident earlier this month in the Annapolis Valley.
On the first day of school, a Grade 9 student at Central Kings Rural High was bullied by some older boys who called him a homosexual and threatened to beat him up for wearing a pink shirt.
In response, Grade 12 students David Shepherd and Travis Price decided to take a stand. They convinced many of their fellow students to come to school the next day wearing pink. They also bought 75 pink tank tops and handed them out in the school lobby.
Since then, the story has hit the international media and pink talk has been all the rage on the Internet. A Wear Pink page has even been created on Facebook."

Over at the CBC news website: "When the bullied student, who has never been identified, walked into school to see his fellow students decked out in pink, some of his classmates said it was a powerful moment. He may have even blushed a little.
'Definitely it looked like there was a big weight lifted off his shoulders. He went from looking right depressed to being as happy as can be,' said Shepherd.
And there's been nary a peep from the bullies since, which Shepherd says just goes to show what a little activism will do.
'If you can get more people against them … to show that we're not going to put up with it and support each other, then they're not as big as a group as they think are,' he says.
The students' "sea of pink" campaign did not go unnoticed outside the province. U.S. talk show host Ellen DeGeneres expressed interest in their story, and other schools are talking about holding their own "pink day."
'It's been totally overwhelming for us. I mean we're just two local boys and I mean we're getting calls from like Alaska and e-mails. It's just phenomenal the support that we've gotten from across the globe,' said Price."

I don't know about you, but I think these boys were incredibly brave, innovative, and displayed a level of empathy and social consciousness that goes well beyond their years. Many of us just tsk, tsk at unfair situations, and then return to our lives. These boys rolled up their sleeves and actually put on their boxing gloves and fought the battle. Bullies: losers...Good guys: GOOD. Go Pink!!!

(above photo: a student at our local high school showing his support...
source: The News)