Travis Price, founder of Pink Shirt Day, speaks with middle school students from Dr. Thomas McCulloch School Wednesday. Pink Shirt Day will be acknowledged Thursday in schools across the province in an effort to bring an end to bullying. Sueann Musick – The News
Three words that guest speaker 24-year-old Travis Price probably would have loved to hear 10 years ago when he was a young boy who dreaded going to school because he was being bullied.
Three words that would have probably given him some confidence to fight back against the bullies in his school.
It’s not that Price strived to be “cute” to all the girls in his grade, it’s just that the words would have meant he was accepted by someone rather than being ignored by some classmates or picked on by others.
“I was kid that liked metal music, I like sports, I was a unique guy, but I wasn’t good enough for them,” he said. “I met this old guy once and he said to me that ‘Only you get to define who you are. No one else has that right.’ I thought that was powerful. If I wanted to be a politician, a doctor or social activist then I could be it. It was music, this guy’s advice and my family that helped me get through this time.”
Price, who has Pictou County roots, continued through school, trying to be accepted by wearing popular clothing, taking part in sports and chatting about the latest video games, but nothing worked.
Finally, he decided that switching high schools in his last year might be the answer and give him the fresh start he was looking for, but it wasn’t long before he realized that a change of venue wouldn’t necessarily change how he was treated.
In fact, it wasn’t until he heard of another student’s misfortune that he decided to take a stand against bullying.
“There was this kid getting beat up in front of us,” he said. “Students were walking by, teachers were walking by and nobody was saying a thing. I looked at (a friend) and said , ‘Is this for real? Has it got to the point that I have been bullied so much, I don’t even realize it has been this bad?’”
He went home that night and spoke to his friend for hours about what happened. That was when the two boys decided that if they wore pink, they would show this boy some support and stand up to the bully.
“If we all wore pink at once, they can’t beat us all up,” he said. “Maybe we can show this kid he is not alone, he can make a difference.”
They purchased 75 pink women tank tops and spread the message on social media and the next day about 850 students and some teachers showed up at school dressed in pink.
“In my mind, at least, I was thinking if I get beat up for this, at least it will be worth it,” he said. “At least I am standing up for someone else. It will be the one beating I will get that will be worth it. I will smile the whole time it is happening.”
Price said one of the biggest surprises he got from the whole experience was learning that a lot people, even the popular kids, had been bullied in the past.
“I realized that the girl I had the biggest crush on was wearing a pink shirt and I asked her why. She said she had been bullied too.”
Pink Shirt Day was born out of this day and one of the first schools to adopt the concept was North Nova Education Centre in New Glasgow.
“We walked into that school and answered questions,” he said. “We let the kids answer questions and since that day my life has never been the same.”
He has been touring and promoting his message for seven years around the world and it has six million people participating world-wide.
Today is Pink Day in Nova Scotia while an international date takes place in February.
“It’s all because of a simple act of kindness,” he said. “It’s all because me and (DJ) made a choice. It wasn't a hard choice. It was simply that choice to stand up for a kid being bullied and that is what you guys can do.”
He said the reason he continues to spread the word around the world is because he knows the message will be much more effective if it coming from someone who lived through it.
Price told the students to tell the teachers if they are being bullied or see bullying taking place. He urged them not to be afraid of being labelled a “rat.”
“Rats to me are heroes. You are helping that person and making a difference in someone’s life,” he said.
