Pink Shirt Day

Pink Shirt Day was held on May 20th this year. Celebrated annually around the globe, Pink Shirt Day began in Canada in 2007 when two students took a stand against homophobic bullying, after a peer was bullied for wearing a pink shirt.

In Aotearoa, Pink Shirt Day works to create schools, workplaces, online spaces, communities and whānau where everyone feels safe, valued and respected.

At WSCW we celebrate this event every year and encourage both students and staff to think about this extraordinary community that we have here, where we feel safe and valued regardless of identity, orientation, age or background. We know that even the smallest of actions, together, can create a wave of change.

Pink Shirt day is about taking a stand. Taking a stand to say bullying should not be tolerated on our school campus, or anywhere, and actually speaks to two of our core values:
Fairness/Tautikatanga – treating others with the respect that you, in turn, expect.
Diversity/Ngā Rerekētanga – acknowledging that not everyone is the same.

This year the  Healthwise student leaders organised an awareness raising event and the teachers and students took part by wearing pink shirts for the day, to show their support for this important event.