News
2007-09-15
Schoolmates turn
out in pink to support bullied student
Bullies who
threatened a new student at their Nova Scotia high school
for wearing a pink polo shirt were themselves schoole
Bullies who
threatened a new student at their Nova Scotia high school
for wearing a pink polo shirt were themselves schooled
by two seniors who convinced half the student body to
dress in pink two days later, the Chronicle-Herald of
Halifax reported.
The newbie, a
ninth grader, showed up in pink September 5 for the first
day of class at Central Kings Rural High School and was set
upon by a group of six to 10 older teens who called
him gay and threatened to beat him up, the paper
reported.
The next day,
seniors David Shepherd and Travis Price decided to act.
"It's my last
year. I've stood around too long and I wanted to do
something," Shepherd told the newspaper. Price said he too
could relate: Growing up, he said, he was picked on
for wearing mass-market clothes instead of designer
brands.
Enlisting as many
students as they could online that evening, Shepherd
and Price headed to school Friday with a pink basketball, 75
pink tank tops for male students to wear, and yards of
pink fabric for headbands and armbands. They even
persuaded a local retailer to open early so they could
buy more.
"Clothes were
flying. They were digging to help us find pink
shirts," Shepherd told the Kings County Register.
They handed out
the shirts in the lobby before class: Even the bullied
student got one.
"He was all
smiles. It was like a big weight had been lifted off his
shoulder," Shepherd told the Chronicle-Herald.
Shepherd and
Price figure about half the school's 830 students wore pink.
"The bullies got
angry," Price told the Chronicle-Herald. "One guy was
throwing chairs [in the cafeteria]. We're glad we got
the response we wanted."
Shepherd said one
of the bullies asked him whether he knew pink on a
male was a symbol of homosexuality.
It doesn't
matter, Shepherd responded. "Something like the color of
your shirt or pants, that's ridiculous."
Central Kings
principal Stephen Pearl told the Register, "It
doesn't surprise me at all they'd want to do
this—we have some great kids." He said the bullying
is under investigation.
"We know who all
the people are, and it will be dealt with with
appropriate corrective behavior," Pearl said. (Barbara
Wilcox, The Advocate)
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