Pink Day at Central Kings Rural High School
This is great article about an ideal response to bullying. Bullying doesn’t stop through top-down discouragement, it stops when the bullies feel peer pressure – the very force they exert.
I read another article about how this is getting international attention, and schools are requesting more information about how to hold their own “Pink Day”. I think that’s totally awesome – what I’m afraid of is that some well-meaning adults are going to step in with the same perception of those bullies – that pink on men is only for ‘homos’, and that this is about ‘gay rights’ and thus they don’t want the schools involved.
As I see it, this is an issue that everyone potentially faces, gay or not. It is about being able to go to class without being harassed, for any reason. It shouldn’t matter whether the boy is gay or not – the bullies found an easy target in the color of his shirt, and probably would have found something else to call him if he’d worn something else.
I look back on all the time and energy I’ve spent combatting the “lessons” I learned in middle school (don’t speak out, don’t stand out, don’t be intelligent, don’t be weird), the hours of worse-than-useless therapy I was forced to go through when I finally stood up for myself, and think that maybe this one kid who happened to wear pink on the first day of school will be spared that.
I feel surprisingly emotional about it, actually.
That is an awesome article. Thank you for sharing. With everything I see about kids in trouble, through my job, it’s awesome to see kids taking a stand to STOP trouble. And stand up for each other.
I think I was mostly spared harassment growing up because I was in the advanced classes, and where I grew up, that was respected. I had my share of moments I’ll never forget though, when someone made fun of my appearance or clothing, etc. I remember one kid making fun of my teeth when I had braces.
Sadly, I see everyday when I do work, that these kids learn these things at home. I hope someday there are enough parents, with kids like the ones in this article, that bullying of this nature ends. There is just no reason for it, and it truly does scar people for life. The bullies need better mentors is usually the problem. Maybe, since it’s making you emotional, you can use that emotion to join a mentoring program near you, and help kids who need it :)
Damn it, there’s not a “kudos” function on lj. So bravo, sir, bravo.
The key quote was, “I’ve stood around too long.” This was a senior, standing up to defend a ninth-grade student. Most high-school students never feel sufficiently empowered to do this. If teachers and staff could stop bullying, it wouldn’t happen. Other kids have to step up.
That was AWESOME. Thank you so much for posting that.
Pink happens to be one of my favorite colors
A couple examples of where many parents and their young children might be learning that it is alright to look down on and bully a male who wears a color like pink.
“Joseph M. (Joe)Arpaio…is a law enforcement officer and the sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States.
Arpaio has been called “America’s Toughest Sheriff” for his controversial approach to operating the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, mainly in regards to his treatment of inmates.
One of Arpaio’s most noted changes was the introduction of pink underwear. Arpaio noted that the traditional white underwear, labeled with Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, was being smuggled out of the jails and sold on the streets. Arpaio thus had the underwear dyed pink, believing that pink is not considered a “macho” color, and would not be stolen.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Arpaio
“Pink Everywhere Makes Prison Inmates Blush
Pink Jumpsuits, Walls and Bars Torture for [MASON, Texas] County Jail Inmates.
Using pink uniforms in a pink jail is a small step to deter inmates from ever wanting to spend more time in the Mason County Jail,…said Sheriff Clint Low.”
http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/Story?id=2552686&page=1