Sometimes, students are the ones providing the programming. At Brockton High School, teens in the peer mediation program found out about an event called Day of Pink and got their school involved last year.
Day of Pink was started by students, too. It began informally in 2007, when two 12th-grade boys at a Nova Scotia high school heard that a ninth-grader had been harassed on his first day of school for wearing a pink polo shirt. CBC News reported that, according to students, “bullies harassed the boy, called him a homosexual for wearing pink, and threatened to beat him up.’’
The two older boys went to a discount store, bought 50 pink shirts, and spread the word by e-mail. Hundreds of teens showed up in pink the next day in a show of support, according to CBC. Today, Day of Pink organizational materials are distributed by Jer’s Vision, a Canadian organization that works to prevent bullying, homophobia, and all types of discrimination.
Teens in Brockton High’s peer mediation group organized a Day of Pink, including related classroom activities, with the help of two faculty advisors.
“It physically shows all the people against bullying,’’ said Kasharena Horton, a 2011 Brockton graduate and freshman at American University. “It’s not to punish the bullies. It’s more to show that the victim is not just one; it’s a lot of people.’’
Since the state’s antibullying law went into effect last year, reports of bullying have edged upward as staff members are required to report any possible instance of bullying to an administrator. At Dedham Middle School, twice as many cases of bullying, harassment, or teasing were reported during the last school year compared with the previous year, and reports increased at Norwood High School as well - changes administrators attribute to better reporting.
Makein agreed that better awareness produced more reports of potential bullying. “I think we’re getting more reports, but it’s because people are paying more attention,’’ he said.
