The message of the Canadian Red Cross’ Pink Day is simple – be someone’s hero. The Pink Day rally held at the Yorkton Regional High School featured athletes and students talking about the problem of bullying, and how peer intervention can help others when confronted with a bullying situation.
Luc Mullinder, Pink Day project manager and former Saskatchewan Roughrider, says that the goal is to create as many healthy and safe relationships as possible in schools and communities.
“The best thing to do is to get that message out to the future leaders of the province.”
The young audience at YRHS is one that is important to reach, Mullinder says, but it’s a message that should be taken in by people no matter their age or role.
“In order to change the culture, we need buy-in from everybody – communities, businesses and especially the schools. Bullying and unsafe relationships are prevalent in the schools. It’s a school issue as well as a community based issue.”
The rally at YRHS is a reflection of how bullying is a problem in towns of all sizes, and Mullinder says sometimes it can seem more insurmountable in a small town where there are fewer people around to talk to and help out. He says that it’s a priority to keep the message going outside of just the major centres.
“It’s an issue you don’t want to centralize, you don’t want to just keep these type of deals in Regina and the big cities. You want to get out to the Yorktons, Swift Currents and Moose Jaws.”
One of the repeated points was that peer interventions are the most effective ways to combat bullying. Mullinder says that part of the difficulty is that people are nervous about what happens if they try to intervene, and they hope that they can help kids learn how to get involved.
“We realize there is a fair amount of anxiety sometimes that comes along with getting involved in a bullying situation... There are safe ways of being someone’s hero, you don’t have to worry about the situation coming back on you.”
Several athletes spoke at the event, not just Mullinder but also former Roughrider Scott McHenry, current Roughrider Dan Clark and women’s hockey player Jessica Campbell. Mullinder believes that when athletes are open about their experiences with bullying, it can reach kids who it otherwise might not.
“Athletes are role models, they’re looked up to, so when they come up and have a message as powerful as ‘be someone’s hero’ it resonates. Those kids, a) they want to be those guys already and b) the best part about it is when they realize, oh my god, I went through something like that.”
While Pink Day is a one day event to get the word out, Mullinder says the message goes far beyond February 24.
“It’s important to know it’s not just the day, it’s got to be a lifestyle, it’s got to be something that’s in our hearts.”
