Annoy A Bully: Wear Pink

“It’s my last year. I’ve stood around too long and I wanted to do something.” – David Shepherd.

Turn the other cheek. Try to understand why he’s a bully. Consider that his hurtful words and actions are probably fueled by – or masking – a deeper personal problem.

These are all common pieces of advice we either received or were given during our childhood and adolescent years when it came to bullies, and good pieces of advice they are. However, they’re generic and usually only serve as coping methods for bully victims until the bullies are no longer part of their lives. They don’t attack the actual problem head-on and as we all know, sometimes you have to stir a little stink to get things cleaned up.

That’s just what Central Kings Rural High School seniors David Shepherd and Travis Price did. The young men devised their own plan of action against a group of bullies who teased, taunted, and threatened a ninth grader for wearing a pink shirt to school.

And, I admit, I like their method much better.

You see, a group of bullies at the Nova Scotia school focused their efforts on a new ninth grade student one day because he was wearing a pink shirt. So, Shepherd and Price organized their own response to the bullies: They purchased pink shirts, pink arm bands and headbands, and even a pink basketball and rallied “about half the school’s 830 students” to get involved.

The reaction?

“The bullies got angry,” said Travis. “One guy was throwing chairs (in the cafeteria). We’re glad we got the response we wanted.”

David said one of the bullies angrily asked him whether he knew pink on a male was a symbol of homosexuality.

He told the bully that didn’t matter to him and shouldn’t to anyone.

The two friends said they didn’t take the action looking for publicity, but rather to show leadership in combating what they say is frequent bullying in schools.

Now, that’s what I’m talkin’ about.

There always have been and will always be “bullies” – the kid on the playground who takes your money every day; the boss who pushes you around and takes advantage of your occasional willingness to work extra hours; the drug dealers, the crooked cops, the hate-crime doers.

We don’t have to stress, we don’t have to cry, and we don’t have to put up with their crap. Of course, we don’t have to turn around and bully them, either.

What we have to do is exactly what David Shepherd and Travis Price did. We have to band together with our fellow classmates, co-workers, parents, citizens, and victims. We have to help each other, and show bullies it just ain’t gonna fly anymore.

Full Article: ‘I’ve stood around too long’
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