Holy Family Catholic students are spreading kindness this month as part of their efforts to become the second school in Alberta to be Certified Kind.
Students at Holy Family Catholic School will join thousands of others around the world this Feb. 26 in marking Pink Shirt Day — an international day that sees people don pink shirts to take a symbolic stand against bullying. This year’s official Pink Shirt Day shirt says “Let Kindness Grow,” and calls on participants to spread seeds of empathy and compassion to bring about a world without bullying.
Holy Family students have been gearing up for Pink Shirt Day by doing daily kindness-related challenges — all part of the school’s quest to become the second Certified Kindness School in Alberta (the first was Grimshaw Public School).
The Certified Kindness School program is an initiative of the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, said Holy Family vice-principal Heather van Streun. The program challenges schools to complete lessons and activities related to compassion, respect, and empathy, and she felt it was a good fit for the school’s Leadership class.
Grade 5 student Giovanni Marques said he and the Leadership team have been sharing kindness tips during morning announcements all month as part of this program. They also recently put sticky notes with inspirational messages on every locker in the school. On Pink Shirt Day, they will distribute paper pink shirts to every class, upon which students will write how they plan to spread kindness to others.
Van Streun said students will write thank-you notes to school staff and perform other community kindness projects in the months ahead. Once they do, the school will receive an official Certified Kindness School Certificate to display in public.
Why be kind
Bullying refers to repeated acts of targeted aggression within a relationship where one person has more power than the other, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. It is commonplace in Canadian schools, with roughly one in four Grade 6-to-10 students in Canada being bullied more than once in the last two months (22 to 30 per cent for boys and 26 to 31 per cent for girls).
Decades of research have shown how bullying elevates the risk of depression and suicide in its victims and of violence and abuse by its perpetrators, said Deinera Exner-Cortens, the scientific co-director of the Canadian anti-bullying research network PREVNET.
“Everyone in the environment has a role in preventing it.”
Exner-Cortens said fighting back generally doesn’t stop bullying, as the victim lacks the power to stop the bully. Standing up for yourself, or a bullied peer, and getting help from someone who does have such power, such as a teacher or adult, is much more effective.
Anti-bullying means not only helping victims recover from trauma but also teaching bullies how to create healthy relationships, Exner-Cortens continued. At schools, this means having an explicit anti-bullying policy in place and teaching students how to recognize and act on bullying.
Van Streun said it was vital for students to learn what kindness looks, feels, and sounds like at school to prevent the harms of bullying.
“Hurt people hurt others, so we’re trying to show that loved people love others,” she said.
Staff at Holy Family have an anti-bullying policy and encourage students to talk to them about their struggles, van Streun said. Counsellors work with both bullies and their victims to try and restore their relationships.
Pink Shirt Day is all about spreading kindness, and the Certified Kindness program is helping Holy Family students see and experience kindness firsthand, van Streun said.
“We need students to experience that more, so it grows with them and is part of who they are.”
Visit www.randomactsofkindness.org for more on the Certified Kindness School program.
