Today, April 14th, 2010 is Pink Shirt Day… creating awareness about bullying and fighting the battle to bring such sadness to an end.  Very recently here in the United States, Florida in particular, there have been two significant cases of teenage bullying in the news.  In one case, the victim ultimately took her own life to escape the terror.  In the other, she remains laying comatose, fighting for her life.  And in both cases, as well as most others, the reasons for this harm and terror are utter stupidity and completely avoidable:  they change the lives of everyone involved and not for the better.  Jori and I have 2 sons… this needless epidemic is near to our hearts because we are parents and for the sake of our own children.

“Pink Shirt Day started in a Nova Scotia high school, where a 9th grade boy was being bullied over wearing a pink polo shirt to school.  A couple of grade 12 boys decided to take a stand against the bullying and wear pink in sympathy for the boy who had been so mercilessly prodded at.  They went to a local discount store and bought 50 pink shirts, and distributed them amongst the other boys in their high school.  They stood up for their fellow classmate and against the bullies, and made a real difference in someone’s life. In a place like Second Life, Cyber Bullying runs rampant.  In a virtual world where it is so easy to be anonymous and hide behind your pixels, many people find it the perfect environment to attack and belittle others.  Unfortunately, this can lead to real life emotional distress, even to those who “disconnect” their Second Life and first life” (December Dollinger).

So today, we both wear the Stop Bullying Day shirt for men and women created for Poised.  Styled with Black jeans for both Jori and I, it’s not your average t-shirt.  I’m proud to wear pink today and Jori, being The Pink Princess, looks pretty sexy in this pink for a cause.

If you agree that this bullying epidemic needs to be stopped, in every world, learn more and let yourself be heard.

StopBullyingNow:  http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/kids/

Additional Resources:  http://www.cumbavac.org/Bullying_Violence_Vandalism.htm

Til next time,

TJ & Jori