{"id":386987,"date":"2026-04-19T08:22:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T08:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/386987\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T08:22:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T08:22:17","slug":"pink-shirt-day-designer-bonnie-brown-on-the-power-of-calling-out-bullies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/386987\/","title":{"rendered":"Pink Shirt Day designer Bonnie Brown on the power of calling out bullies"},"content":{"rendered":"
When we moved back to Queenstown, the wealth disparity was very apparent. I remember having a budget-branded water bottle and someone teasing me that it was because I couldn\u2019t afford anything else.<\/p>\n
My younger sister was a really easygoing, confident kid, so she was pretty all right, but I remember someone teasing her at the playground and finding it much easier to stick up for her than for myself. I\u2019m sure a lot of people can relate to that, too.<\/p>\n
It helped that my mum has never really cared what people think, in a great way. She\u2019s always encouraged my sister and me to fully be ourselves. Having that backing at home was incredibly important to me.<\/p>\n
Bonnie Brown: “There\u2019s so much more to it than just wearing pink. It\u2019s about saying you\u2019re somebody who will stand up against bullying.” Photo \/ Marty Melville, NZ Herald<\/p>\n
Every year, I pull a pink item of clothing out of my cupboard for Pink Shirt Day. People wear a lot of black in Wellington and it\u2019s such a change to see the city transformed, not just in schools but in workplaces, too. My sister\u2019s an early childhood teacher and I know they go all out for it.<\/p>\n
Pink Shirt Day began in Canada in 2007 after two students stood up for another kid who was being bullied for wearing pink. Being bullied for wearing pink? That\u2019s just kind of ridiculous. So, it\u2019s about flipping that on its head.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s so much more to it than just wearing pink. It\u2019s about saying you\u2019re somebody who will stand up against bullying, that you\u2019re someone in the school or community other people could look to for help. That\u2019s such a strong message.<\/p>\n
So, when the Cotton On Foundation and the Mental Health Foundation reached out to see if I was interested in working with them on bringing Pink Shirt Day to life this year, it was an easy yes for me. <\/p>\n
\u201cK\u014drero Mai, K\u014drero Atu, Mauri T\u016b, Mauri Ora\u201d \u2013 \u201cSpeak Up, Stand Up, Stop Bullying\u201d \u2013 is about choosing to be an upstander, not a bystander. Research shows that more than half of bullying situations stop when other students intervene. <\/p>\n
Most of us will have been in one of those situations where we\u2019ve felt uncomfortable. Maybe you\u2019re on a bus and somebody\u2019s being a bit off. You\u2019re looking around, hoping someone\u2019s going to say something or stand up for you, but it just isn\u2019t happening. <\/p>\n
We all have to be that person who steps in, whether it\u2019s bullying or something else. Not calling it out is like saying it\u2019s okay to treat people that way. <\/p>\n
When I was a teenager, social media was just starting to become a big part of our lives. Now that\u2019s a huge issue. You get no relief leaving school and heading home because it\u2019s all online. <\/p>\n
Thinking you\u2019re somehow at fault for what\u2019s happening, or that people won\u2019t understand how you\u2019re feeling, is a big contributor as well. <\/p>\n
We have such a tall poppy culture in New Zealand, from school to the workplace, and I think that plays a part, too. <\/p>\n
A lot of it comes down to picking on someone who doesn\u2019t fit in or is different, even if it\u2019s in a way that\u2019s incredible and confident and empowering for them. If you\u2019re not following the crowd, bullies look to tear you down.<\/p>\n
I was the first in my family to go to university. Although, actually, my mum was studying to be an early childhood teacher at the same time, so really we were both the first in our family.<\/p>\n
Coming from a low-income household, I thought architecture would be a financially secure career, but after finishing my degree, I fell into doing illustration and art instead.<\/p>\n
I love bold colours, and my goal is to make almost anything I work on quite fun and joyful. Little playful elements you can layer on top of each other \u2013 what I call \u201csticker moments\u201d \u2013 feature a lot in my work.<\/p>\n
For Pink Shirt Day, it was really important for me to create something fresh you\u2019d reach for because of the design alone, and that could act as a visual reminder any day of the year. <\/p>\n
Hopefully even someone unfamiliar with the campaign might think, \u201cThat\u2019s a cool T-shirt\u201d, then read the message and get a feel for what it\u2019s all about. <\/p>\n
So, on Pink Shirt Day, I\u2019ll be putting on my tee and walking down Cuba St to see how a city that\u2019s normally decked out in black has been flipped on its head.<\/p>\n