Students at Bench Elementary School were asked to think pink and show their support for the third annual Pink Shirt Anti-Bullying Day, which was held on Wednesday, April 14.

“We’ve taken a stand at our school on bullying,” said Chris George, a lunch-hour supervisor.

“The kids and the staff don’t permit bullying.”

Students were encouraged to come to school in a pink shirt, but those that did not own one made do with various other pink items; children decorated themselves with bits of pink ribbon and even the teachers and supervisors got into the spirit.

“I don’t think it (bullying) is really an issue here at this school,” said Carmen VanUnen, a lunch hour supervisor sporting pink Crocs and checkered pink sunglasses.

“We keep a pretty open policy on (students) talking to us if there are issues.”

James Clark, a teacher at Bench Elementary, discussed bullying with his class.

“We talked about what bullying looks like,” said Clark.

“They are not always sure about what bullying is.”

“Bullying is intentionally hurting someone’s feelings over and over.”

Pink Shirt Day and its sister program, The Day of Pink, were started when a couple of high school students from Nova Scotia bought pink shirts for their classmates to protest the bullying of a grade 9 boy who was being picked on for wearing the rosy colour.

Now the occasion, and its affiliated colour, is celebrated by clubs and schools around the country.

The event was postponed from its original date on the last Wednesday in February, to April 14, to avoid conflicts with the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.