Twilight, Travel, and Treats

Yes, Rob is carrying a pink sleeping bag too - Remember Me filming

Although I do love a good Rob pic fest this post isn't about him. Although he does look adorable in pink.

I had to get your attention didn't I?

Now to the real reason behind this post...



February 23rd is Pink Shirt Day here in Canada. It has been accepted as an initiative over much of our country to wear pink shirts to support anti-bullying.

Pink Shirt Day was started somewhere in Nova Scotia after a high school boy was bullied for wearing a pink shirt on the first day of school.

“David Shepherd, Travis Price and their teenage friends organized a high-school protest to wear pink in sympathy with a Grade 9 [sophomore] boy who was being bullied…[They] took a stand against bullying when they protested against the harassment of a new Grade 9 student by distributing pink T-shirts to all the boys in their school.
‘I learned that two people can come up with an idea, run with it, and it can do wonders,’ says Mr. Price, 17, who organized the pink protest. ‘Finally, someone stood up for a weaker kid.’
So Mr. Shepherd and some other headed off to a discount store and bought 50 pink tank tops. They sent out message to schoolmates that night, and the next morning they hauled the shirts to school in a plastic bag.
As they stood in the foyer handing out the shirts, the bullied boy walked in. His face spoke volumes. ‘It looked like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders,’ Mr. Price recalled.
The bullies were never heard from again.”

Reading this story makes me almost weep everytime. I'm sure many of us have stories to tell about being bullied as a child. I don't have a particular rough one. We grew up as one of a handful of Asian families in a lower middle class neighbourhood in Toronto. I learned the word "chink" very early in life but I'm forever grateful to my sister. Even though she was only 20 months older I think she shielded me from lots of name calling on the school bus and taught me to ignore all the taunting. I don't ever remember feeling ashamed of being Chinese and I thank her for that.


Now to present day, as a mother of two children who are in their early years of school one of my biggest fears is that they will end up being the bullied. How do you protect your kids from it? Do you teach them to fight back? What kind of message is it that it's okay to hit? Should we just teach them to be passive or run away? Are we supposed to teach our kids to be a tattle-tale? I am looking to those of you who have been through this age for advice. My husband and I have tried to teach our kids to always stand up for themselves but to not fight - but I can't say I'd be okay with my kids not fighting back.

I hope the anti-bullying message spreads. Is it something that they've heard of in the US? I'm curious.

So tomorrow I'll be wearing a pink shirt. My boys will too and I hope my husband manages to scrounge something up. I wonder if this will be acceptable?