GFSS’s Students gearing up Pink T-shirt in support of anti-bullying and unity

Grand Forks Secondary School’s student are gearing up Pink T-shirt to support on Feb. 29, in support of anti-bullying and unity.

GFSS counselor Terry Ann Webster came up with the idea last year after watching a YouTube video that a teacher did in Maple Ridge, BC.

The video showed a flash mob, a random dance performance, in a middle of a shopping centre that was in demonstration of anti-bullying.

“I thought it was really neat because they were all wearing the same shirt and they looked really unified and I thought we should do something like that,” she said. “I didn’t have a lot of time last year, but this year I spoke to John Mahon in January and I told him the idea I wanted to do and he came up with the idea for the contest.”

From there, Webster instructed her Peer Counsellors to start looking for pink t-shirts and throughout the month of January, students submitted their designs of logos for anti-bullying.

There was a $50 prize, free t-shirt and their logo would be placed on the t-shirt.

Ashley Zibin, who is also a Peer Counsellor, won the logo contest.

Peer Counselling is one of the classes that is offered at GFSS, where Grade 12 students are trained in September before they are assigned eight to 10 Grade 8 students.

“It’s their job to keep up with the Grade 8 students throughout the year, just to talk to them and make it a successful year,” explained Webster. “I talk to them about eating disorders, bullying, anxieties, making friends, and then they take it to the Grade 8’s and they have an idea of what to say to them.”

Along the halls of GFSS, Peer Counsellors have put up posters based on issues of bullying, cyber-bullying or friendship skills.

Webster noted that with the accessibility of technology, it has become easier to become a cyber-bully.

“It’s become easier and easier to bully people, especially cyber bullying because you don’t see them face-to-face and you don’t see their reaction,” she said. “In fact, sometimes people won’t get a reaction until days or weeks later and by then it’s dissipated a bit, so you don’t get the whole face-to-face bit of, ‘Oh I shouldn’t have said that.’ So there’s no filter.”

But even with the internet and technology, Webster has noticed that most of the bullying occurs between those in the same grade, and it’s rare to see a senior student bullying younger students.

“I think part of it is being aware what you say gets out there and that people do have feelings and there are reactions,” she stated. “It’s also about how you would feel if somebody said this to you, face-to-face. It helps a lot to remind kids how they would feel.”

Pink t-shirts will be sold this week and next week for Feb. 29.

Pink T-shirt Day began in 2008 when students at a Nova Scotia high school wore pink t-shirts in protest against a bullying incident.