Beyond the hurt
A unique Canadian Red Cross program is empowering millions of Canadian youth to prevent and take a stand against bullying By Mary Lee Crocker
Several students from Carson Graham Secondary School in North Vancouver participated in Beyond the Hurt.
British Columbia celebrated Pink Shirt Day on Feb. 25, a day on which people don pink shirts to show they are against bullying. However, the Canadian Red Cross created a program that shares the same message year-round. According to the Canadian Red Cross website (www.redcross.ca), the Beyond the Hurt (BTH) program “supports a school or organization-wide approach to preventing bullying and building empathy and respect,” consisting of a three-hour bullying prevention workshop for youth. At an event in Victoria, B.C., Travis 46
Ops Talk • Spring 2015
Price, co-founder of Pink Shirt Day, said, “The Canadian Red Cross has, bar none, the best bullying prevention program in the country.” This is a big endorsement from an individual who has become an international anti-bullying icon. At another event on that same day, a law enforcement officer attending a rally at Reynolds Secondary School in Saanich, B.C. shared that the Red Cross’s BTH bullying prevention program was influential due to its unique peer-topeer training model. In 2013, UNICEF reported that 35 per cent of Canadian children aged 11, 13,
and 15 years old have been bullied at school in the past couple of months. This hurtful behaviour has significant impact on those who are targeted, those who witness, and those who carry out the bullying. Bullying is not a rite of passage or a standard childhood experience. The outcomes of bullying are serious, real and far-reaching. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth in B.C. The experience of being targeted by bullying behaviour increases a youth’s risk for mental health challenges and suicide. However, research also shows
