Bullying is today, a major problem for Canadian children. The act of bullying has become very popular in our schools as well as on social media. Children are bullied for their looks, beliefs as well as orientation, creating timid kids who struggle to find their voice. February is the month of love, making it the best time to fight bullying by preaching love, and standing up for one another. According to research, 75% of the Canadian populace have been affected by bullying. It is for this reason, that Toys R Us and Babies R Us Canada, has decided to join the cause by launching a yearly campaign in support of Pink Shirt Day.
Also known as Anti-bullying day, Pink Shirt Day (February 27th) is a day set aside to educate Canadian students, education practitioners, parents and the general population on the ills of bullying, and inspire them to join the fight to eradicate it. Pink Shirt Day has a little history, as the movement was birthed by a bullying incident. In 2007, a ninth grade student was bullied for wearing a pink shirt to school. Two of his classmates witnessed the event, and rallied about 50 more students in solidarity with their bullied classmate. The following day they showed their support for him by wearing pink shirts to school. This brought about what has now become a worldwide movement.
Toys R Us and Babies R Us, showed support for the movement by giving out more than 8000 pink shirts reading ”Be a Buddy, Not a Bully” to their customers in all their 82 stores across the country alongside the Toybox pop-up store in Guelph, Ontario. In addition to that, all Toy R Us and Babies R Us Canada employees and associates wore pink shirts on the official Pink Shirt Day; February 27th. These actions of the company was to show its active support for the anti-bullying campaign.
The president of Toys R Us, Melanie Teed-Murch in an interview went into details about why the company took such applaudable steps. She was quoted as saying ”Play is one of the most important building blocks of any healthy and peaceful society, but we can’t enjoy play when youth in our community are feeling unsafe or intimidated.” This goes to show a great understanding of the big task at hand in the fight against bullying. The ever presence of the social media in the everyday lives of kids has created more opportunities for them to be bullied online. As of today, over a third of Canadian teenagers, have experienced a form of cyber bullying. This initiative by Toys R Us is a great one, as they employ their reach, platform and resources in the awareness against bullying. The Toy R Us Canada’s Pink Shirt Day is set to become an annual event as the anti bullying movement continues to grow. It is hoped that other major establishments around the world, join this global fight against bullying.