THUNDER BAY – Emma Rzepczynski says she’s seen a little too much bullying around the schoolyard for her liking.
While it may not be egregious acts, kids getting repeatedly tripped in the hallway and hats being deliberately tossed in muddy puddles is happening.
The 10-year-old decided to do something about it.
She entered a Lakehead Public Schools contest and created the winning T-shirt design for Anti-Bullying Day, a pink shirt with the phrase ‘Bully Free Zone’ and a red heart.
It was her way of telling bullies they should think about their actions and consider a better way to treat others.
“I decided to design it because I see a lot of kids getting bullied and I just feel bad for them that they have to go through that, especially when they’re new.
"The heart stands for making sure you remember you have a strong heart and not to let anyone walk over it – and to help kids too,” Emma said on Wednesday at Kingsway Park School, where she attends Grade 5.
Anti-Bullying Day, also known as Pink Shirt Day, arose when two Nova Scotia teenagers stood up for a classmate who was picked on for wearing a pink shirt to school.
They bought pink shirts for all the boys to wear, and the movement spread across the country from there.
Kris Sandberg, vice-principal at Kingsway Park, said he felt a sense of pride when he saw a sea of pink as he looked over an assembly in the school’s gymnasium, the students paying tribute to Emma’s T-shirt design win.
“It’s great to see our community come together and signify the importance of today’s day, to have (parents) have their kids come to school with something pink on and to think about the importance of recognizing bullying does happen in the school, but we need to be proactive and make sure it doesn’t happen,” Sandberg said.
The goal is to encourage students to think that way throughout the school year, not just on Feb. 28.
“As the kids were leaving, I said we need to carry this forward each and every single day. Within the school we do a lot of things to celebrate kindness and being helpful and we recognize students who are doing things that are kind,” Sandberg said. “That’s the best way we can start with this, because bullying, unfortunately, will never go away.
“We’ll always have to be proactive when it happens.”
