Central Alberta Middle School joined Canada in celebrating Pink Shirt Day.

The event began in Nova Scotia with a student who was bullied for wearing a pink shirt to school. Classmates stood up for the student by wearing their pink shirts the following day. Now, schools across Canada spread anti-bullying awareness by donning bright pink shirts.

It was a sea of pink at Central Alberta Middle School and students celebrated with cupcakes and a photo booth where students were encouraged to post their photos on social media.

“When we repeat that message every year, it starts to slowly sink in…” said Laura Gogh, French immersion, and leadership teacher at Central Alberta Middle School continuing, “Having them take pictures and everything, and we're trying to get them to do hashtags and to get it on social media because the message is not just to end it today, but to spread it out there.”

Megin Kilpatrick, grade seven student, was passionate about the event because she has had friends who were bullied in the past.

“Well, it’s just kind of hard to be in that position because you’re not really sure who to talk to and stuff like that. It’s just kind of a hard position to be in.”

However, Central Alberta Middle School is diverse in its culture and practices a variety of events that celebrate diversity and anti-bullying.

“We have all these different programs and lots of kids that don’t get to mix other than in options sometimes. They mix outside at recess but lots of them don’t know each other. So, it can be kind of a breeding ground for bullying but we try to make it a very positive school and make sure that we always talk about diversity and not just acceptance and tolerance, but also appreciating other cultures. I think that comes into play in our school especially,” said Gough.

With these events, students and teachers are able to spread bullying awareness and perhaps plant the seed in a student’s mind to stop bullying, even where adults are not present to intervene.