Tomorrow is Pink Shirt Day, a day to take a stand against bullying.
Pink Shirt Day began in Canada in 2007 when two students took a stand against homophobic bullying after a new student was harassed and threatened for wearing pink.
The students bought dozens of pink shirts and distributed them to their classmates to wear the next day.
A Brock University researcher has been looking into bullying trends in Niagara.
Tony Volk tells CKTB bullying in Niagara has returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Since the fall, Volk and his team have been surveying almost 1,000 Grade 8 to 12 students in Niagara, hoping to learn more about bullying trends.
While data from around the world has shown bullying rates were down during COVID, Volk’s data shows they have since returned to pre-pandemic levels.
“This rebound suggests that bullying is a deeply-rooted behaviour that doesn’t depend on short-term cues,” says Volk, a member of the Brock Research on Aggression and Victimization Experiences (BRAVE), one of Canada’s largest teams of child and youth bullying experts.
Incivility, a form of misbehaviour including talking out of turn, eating during class and being rude, has also increased.
“That’s important, because a lack of civility can lead to future bullying,” Volk says. “We are monitoring the data to see if this rise in incivility is temporary or if it will also increase bullying moving forward.”