Pink Shirt Day

Today is Pink Shirt Day.

A day, dedicated to wearing pink shirts as a way of drawing attention to the issue of bullying.

You can find out more details about Pink Shirt Day, and how it started, on their website: pinkshirtday.ca

Over the past few days, there have been a number of people in the media, who have asked the question: “Does ‘Pink Shirt Day’ help ?”

The obvious and concise answer, in my opinion, is a solid and resounding “YES !!!”

I was lucky enough to go to Elementary and Secondary Schools where, except for one occasion, I can’t remember encountering bullying.

However, I do know that my childhood and early teen years were a time of change, and a period where I felt alone… isolated… and vulnerable.

I was short… gawky… quiet… not popular and wore glasses.   As it was, I largely just kept to myself, and tried not to draw attention to myself.  Had I gone to a different school, or had my school had a different environment, I would have been a choice victim for bullies.

And I would have been in trouble.

 

Later in life, I encountered another set of circumstances and a time where the place I worked for 21 years had to close… I started a new job… I lost both my parents… and we moved… all in the period of four years.  At that time, I became entangled in the quicksand of depression.  It was an all-consuming, physically-painful period… where I searched for a way out of the darkness, and back into the light of “normalcy”.  It was a tough go.  But I made a conscious decision, that was critical (in my opinion) to my eventual success… I shared my problem.

I told friends, family and co-workers that I was having a tough time, and was struggling with depression.  I took my boss aside, and let him know that I was having a tough time.  I relied on my wife more than I usually do.  And the thing that surprised me, was the steady stream of those same folk, who, privately, would come up, one by one, and confide that they were going through the same thing… but alone, privately and isolated… and how great it was to have someone to talk to.

They rarely did… but they benefited from the knowledge that they were not alone in their struggles.

 

A few years later, I worked with an Organization helping parents of kids with eating disorders to understand their children’s journey… and the most impactful lesson I came out of that endeavor with, was their catch phrase: “You Are Not Alone”… which is why I wrote this song.

So, to ask if talking about something makes it better ?  Certainly…  Undoubtedly…  Absolutely… Yes.

It does not make it go away… Only the strength of a society where bullying is unacceptable can stop that.

But the first step is talking about it.

And so today, I wear a pink shirt… and I talk about it.