Peacock students wear pink to fight bullying

Across Canada, the story of the Nova Scotia school in pink has motivated many into action, including the students of Peacock Collegiate, which held a wear pink day on Friday.
The anti-bullying campaign was started in a Nova Scotia school after a Grade 9 boy was harassed and threatened after wearing a pink shirt on the first day of school.
When two senior boys heard what had happened, they rallied their school together to dress in pink to support the victim and stand up to the bullies.
Other schools in Nova Scotia picked up the idea and held wear pink days.
Sophie Rosso, a teacher at Peacock, saw the story on the news one night, and brought the idea to the school.
Rosso and Tana Rowe, another teacher, are in charge of the junior and senior student government associations (SGA) at Peacock.
The students immediately wanted to help by having their own pink day. "About 75 per cent of the school has showed up in pink," said Rosso.
The student government associations also set up places in the school were people could get "pinked out" and receive a pink ribbon and get their faces painted.
"We're hoping this year we can change some attitudes," added Rosso.
The students aren't raising any money, but awareness, to stop bullying in and out of schools.
The SGAs decided to have a pink day every month.
"When we heard about the story, we wanted to do something too," said Kyla Hambly, a ninth grader with the Junior SGA. "And be a positive influence for the other schools in Moose Jaw."
Some students weren't surprised by the number of students wearing pink.
"We're showing that this can't happen," said Tessa Hill, a twelfth grader with the Senior SGA.
"It's not just for our school. It should be known everywhere," she said.
The school has also made a pink wall, full of stories of students at the school who wanted to share a bullying experience.
"They're heartbreaking," said Hill.
"I keep thinking that this is actually happening to kids in our school," she said.
The students would like to make another wall, this one full of stories of how a bullying situation was stopped or other positive stories.

Shelby Parker can be reached at 691-1263.