Players with the Saskatchewan Roughriders helped unveil the new T-shirt design for the launch of the annual Red Cross Pink Day campaign.
The campaign aims to provide bullying prevention education and messages to students in the province.
The 2018 Pink Day shirt was revealed on Tuesday at schools in both Regina and Saskatoon.
Two Roughriders, Dan Clark and Jorgen Hus, were on hand to drive home this year’s focus on combating cyberbullying among youth. The T-shirt reveal was followed by a bullying prevention presentation by each Rider.
“When you tie together personal stories with the content, they really pay attention and they really kind of locked in and this was a really good school,” Hus said at Tommy Douglas Collegiate in Saskatoon.
“I noticed eye contact with everybody and I think they really took a lot of from it and even if you can influence one person then it makes this whole thing worth it and I think we did a lot more than that.”
The shirts have the hashtag #BeSomeonesHero on them to highlight the theme of people stepping up when they witness bullying in a school or playground.
“We know that bullying will usually stop within 10 seconds when someone intervenes,” Cindy Fuchs, vice-president of the Red Cross in Saskatchewan, said in a press release.
“We also know that peers are present in almost every instance of bullying. That is why the ‘Be Someone’s Hero’ message is so important.”
The Red Cross has these anti-bullying tips for teachers and parents:
- Have ongoing discussions about relationships and bullying with children throughout the school year;
- Conversations about boundaries and respect are important. Listen to children about their experiences and concerns and allow them to share their feelings;
- Encourage children to take a stand against bullying by: telling an adult they trust if they see or know that someone is being bullied; not joining in by cheering if they see bullying happening; providing support and friendship to the person being bullied; using his/her influence to change the situation; and
- Remind children often of their value and importance – help build their capacity and self-esteem.
About 300,000 shirts are sold each year and last year over $1,000,000 went toward youth anti-bullying programs in Western Canada.
Prink Day T-shirts and more information, like bullying prevention tips, are available online from the Red Cross.
Red Cross Pink Day is held on Feb. 28 across Canada.
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