One of the seniors said: "If you can get more people against [bullies] to show that we're not going to put up with it and support each other, then they're not as big a group as they think are."
Bullying isn't new, it didn't arrive with cellphones or the internet. Bullying is a human rights issue and it is one of New Zealand's biggest problems.
Bullying in schools isn't just "kids being kids". If someone's attacked they shouldn't have to "suck it up". And the nursery rhyme "Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me" is a lie. It is the responsibility of every one of us to respect the human dignity of others.
Everyone has a human right to be free from fear, feel safe and to live a life free from violence and abuse.
Like bullies, bystanders who stand by and watch bullying take place are not new.
But what we need to realise is that bystanders are not neutral. They are an essential part of the bullying process: bullies need an audience to thrive. When we stand by and do nothing, our silence speaks volumes about us. If someone is being tormented in your classroom or by your desk, or where you work, live or play, are you going to be part of the problem or are you going to be part of the solution?
By being brave and kind anyone of us can ensure that those who are bullied or abused are free from fear because they know they are not alone.
We can speak out and stand up, most importantly when we see it happening, whenever and wherever we see it happening. The Government is not going to stop it. The Human Rights Commission is not going to stop it. You will stop it. We as citizens can stop it where and when we see it. All the words in human rights treaties and our laws will never match the actions we take to protect the dignity and rights of others in the places we work, learn, live and play in.
It's fitting that Pink Shirt Day falls less than a month after Anzac Day. Pink Shirt Day reminds us that any of us can stand up for the human dignity and rights of those we live, play, learn or work with. In both cases it is about standing up against those that bully others.
In World War II thousands of New Zealand men and women fought and died for four freedoms, including freedom from fear. During and after the war we worked on a Universal Declaration of Human Rights that embodied those four freedoms.
Pink Shirt Day is a powerful demonstration of a very simple principle the United Nations is founded on: People are responsible for respecting the human dignity and human rights of others.
The freedom we fought for was not the freedom to do what you liked to whoever you disliked. That was what our enemies wanted the freedom to do.
We fought for the freedom, dignity and rights of everyone to be respected everywhere and every day.
In New Zealand, bullying and violence is still a terror thousands of our people face every day. Some of us are choosing to be bystanders. Some of us are choosing to be kind and brave and making sure those that are abused know they are not alone.
What are you going to choose to do?
David Rutherford is Chief Human Rights Commissioner.
