For the month of February many schools, businesses and community members are encouraged to promote the concept of anti-bullying. The last Wednesday of the month (this year on February 28), people may witness a sea of pink everywhere they go, as that is officially Pink Shirt Day.
In many ways, for members of the Canadian Martial Arts Academy Powell River, every day is a day to promote anti-bullying and celebrate Pink Shirt Day. The words are clearly visible on the wall at the academy: respect, compassion, gratitude, loyalty and honour, which are some of the skills and values that come with learning martial arts.
"We have a pink shirt month in the dojo," said head instructor/sensei Frank Clayton. "The entire month we talk about situational awareness, and how to manage and handle bullying."
Traditional karate skills are taught to students who range in age from five to 13 years old. However, adults also have a chance to learn.
"We teach the ABCs of conflict avoidance and how to avoid a potentially dangerous situation," said Clayton. "For the month of February, the kids, in support of anti-bullying day, wear pink shirts for the entire month."
The physical skills learned at the dojo then translate into better emotional resilience, confidence, leadership skills, self-discipline and concentration; the opposite of bullying behaviour.
According to Psychology Today: "Bullying is a distinctive pattern of repeatedly and deliberately harming and humiliating others, specifically those who are smaller, weaker, younger or in any way more vulnerable than the bully. The deliberate targeting of those of lesser power is what distinguishes bullying from garden-variety aggression"
The ABCs of conflict avoidance can be useful to anyone and include avoiding potentially dangerous situations; being calm and breathing; and communicating with confidence and respect.
Situational awareness is a major theme and concept taught by Clayton at the academy. Being aware of what is happening is key to avoiding bad situations and for young people navigating the world of school culture and social behaviours, embracing the concepts of anti-bullying can be life-changing.
Pink Shirt Day, which is now celebrated around the world, started in 2007 in a small town in Nova Scotia. According to pinkshirtday.com: "David Shepherd, Travis Price and their teenage friends organized a high-school protest to wear pink in sympathy with a grade nine boy who was being bullied for wearing a pink shirt. They protested against the harassment by distributing pink T-shirts to all the boys in their school."
A message from Canadian Martial Arts Academy Powell River stated: "This has to stop: name calling, pushing, punching, spitting, pointing, laughing and rumour spreading."
One of Clayton's favourite quotes is from former United States president Theodore Roosevelt: “Knowing what’s right doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”
In order to stop bullying, Clayton said a person has to understand what it is in the first place. The academy has posted a YouTube video in order to help with that: youtube.com/watch?v=ffzIhWoi5ac.
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