Surrey students and anti-bullying supporters are gearing up to look pretty in pink this Wednesday, Feb. 27 for the sixth annual Pink Shirt Day.

Created as a way to show solidarity against bullying, Pink Shirt Day is a Canada-wide initiative started when two teens in Nova Scotia stood up against bullies in their school by wearing pink shirts when a fellow student was bullied for sporting the same colour.

Since then, the anti-bullying movement has spread, and has now become an annual event with the ultimate goal of raising awareness and eliminating bullying everywhere.

"Pink Shirt Day is a great opportunity for us to engage the community and raise awareness about bullying and the devastating effect it can have on people," said Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts. "Bullying should not be tolerated in schools, workplaces, online, or anywhere in our communities. And we want everyone to know there is help and support available to those who are being bullied."

In Surrey, the official pink shirts will sport a design by Guildford Park student Bea Venzon following a city-wide contest held last month by the Surrey school district.

"It's just that bullying is one small thing that could have lifelong repercussions for people so preventing it would have such an impact on someone's life," said Venzon at the time. "Nobody deserves to get bullied for their race, sexual orientation, financial status, disability, gender, religion, perceived subculture or for anything at all."

For more information on how to get involved and to obtain an official pink shirt, go to www.pinkshirtday.ca. Proceeds will go toward various anti-bullying initiatives in British Columbia.

cpoon@thenownewspaper.com

Twitter @questionchris