It was a sea of pink as the students from Willows elementary school flooded out of the building for an afternoon photo on Wednesday.
The students – along with thousands of others – were participating in the province-wide initiative to create awareness against bullying.
In addition to the kids and their teachers were members of the Oak Bay municipal police, sporting pink shirts instead of their usual uniform.
“I think it’s a fantastic initiative,” said police chief Mark Fisher. “In policing in general we see the impacts of bullying and often deal with it in some of the investigations we get involved in.”
Fisher said because of the impact of bullying they see in the community, they do anything they can to support more awareness and prevention.
“We provide talks in school around prevention,” said Fisher. “We will also occasionally have our school liaison go into PAC groups and give a talk if it’s something their interested in or have questions about.”
Oak Bay police provide local parents with the tools and tips they need to help recognize the signs of bullying and have discussions with their children. For more information go to pinkshirtday.ca.