Did you know that it’s Bullying Awareness Week? From November 13 – November 17, students across Canada are standing up, raising awareness and doing their part to make bullying history.Family Channel is also encouraging everyone to join the 10th annual Stand UP! campaign. It’s easy – just watch the awesome lineup of bullying awareness specials on Family and spread the word at your school. Into social media? Even one Tweet using the #BAW2012 hashtag can make a difference!
On Friday at 5 p.m., Family will also be airing the 2012 Stand UP! Rally, with performances by Victoria Duffield and Mike Tompkins! (If you’re curious about what they had to say, be sure to check out our exclusive pre-rally interviews with Victoria and Mike!)
Along with musical acts, a few speakers shared their inspiring anti-bullying stories with the crowd. One standout was Travis Price, who co-founded Pink Shirt Day in high school. It started as a protest in sympathy of a grade nine student who was bullied for wearing a pink shirt and has since become a global anti-bullying movement! We caught up with Travis before the rally to chat about bullying and how everyone and anyone can make a difference.
You and your friend organized Pink Shirt Day. How did it all start?
We were standing at the bus stop and we heard about this student being bullied for wearing a pink shirt. It was our grade 12 year and we really wanted to do something to make a difference and to be remembered. I think that’s everyone’s goal in life, to be remembered for something. I saw this grade nine student as a younger version of myself. I was bullied for the clothes I wore and for the money my family didn’t have. I didn’t want this kid to go through the next three years of high school being the bullied kid. Just to come up with the idea, go through with it and work up the courage – it’s amazing. I still look back now and think, ‘What was I doing? That was so out of my element!’ But I don’t have one single regret.
What bumps in the road did you face along the way?
I doubted myself. David, the other co-founder, and I thought that this would just go on in Nova Scotia. Then, it went across Canada. The next thing you know, we’re getting letters from a school in New Zealand! It was something that I wanted to carry on after the year. I wanted to continue to share my story and show everyone that even a bullied a kid can still stand a chance in the world once they get out of high school.
What was your experience like being bullied?
I was bullied from first grade right up to grade 12. Severely. It started with little things and verbal abuse. ‘Diaper head’ and stuff like that. Then, the verbal stuff progressed into physical violence, from me getting tossed into lockers to me getting beat up after school to me crawling home with broken bones. It was tough. I don’t think that is anything a kid should have to go through. It’s not a test by any means. It’s not kids being kids, it’s cruel.
What advice would you give to a kid being bullied?
Stand up in numbers. Stand up to make a difference. Tell somebody. I didn’t. I used to keep it to myself because I didn’t want to be a burden. It’s so important that you tell someone so they can deal with it. If you are being bullied or see someone being bullied, it can stop in 10 seconds or less if someone intervenes. Which is huge. If one person says, “That’s not cool,” and the bullies leave him or her alone for that lunch hour, that kid will always remember you. I still remember one girl that really made a difference on my first day of high school. She got the bullying to stop by asking them to leave me alone. I am going to remember that girl for the rest of my life. I can’t wait to go to my high school reunion in 20 years just to thank her for what she did.
What do you hope to achieve at the rally?
I want these kids to see someone who has been bullied be able to come back and do something. And how easy it is to start to something. We did something with 25 dollars and pink shirts. It has blown up to a point where I can’t control it anymore. It’s so easy to start a movement. Whether it’s pink day, purple day, blue day… it’s not about a colour – it’s about the awareness of bullying. I hope that I can inspire a few minds to stand up and make their own campaigns.
What fictional character do you relate to the most?
Somebody asked me this question three months ago in New Brunswick and an elderly lady behind me yelled out that I was Batman. I thought that was pretty cool, because I love Batman. She said, “You’re there when people need you. They’ll shine a signal into the sky and there you’ll be.” That’s exactly what the New Brunswick tour was. They were having anti-bullying week and they needed someone to show kids that even if you’re bullied, you still stand a chance.
Thank you, Travis! Learn more about Family Channel’s Stand UP! To Bullying campaign, check out Pink Shirt Day and don’t forget to tune into Family Channel on Friday, November 16 at 5 p.m. ET/PT to watch the rally!