Teens cope with accepting differences
Students mark awareness week with talk from Born to Rise founder, Pink Shirt Day
West Islander Aiesha Robinson was 18 years old and attending Dawson College when she first noticed a small white patch on her right thumb. She asked a friend to take a look. The friend knew instantly what it was.
Robinson, who is black, followed up with a visit to the doctor where she was diagnosed with the skin condition vitiligo. The condition destroys skin pigment and is particularly visible against dark-toned skin.
“When I was diagnosed, I fell to my knees sobbing,” Robinson told a student assembly at Pierrefonds Comprehensive High School last week. Robinson, now 27, spoke at length about the struggle to accept her condition and move beyond it. She needed to learn how to brave a world filled with people who stared and commented without compunction.
“I was called a cow. I was called ugly,” she said.
Robinson’s talk was part of the school’s Acceptance & Awareness Week. The talk was also a way to mark Pink Shirt Day. Students and staff donned pink T-shirts emblazoned with personalized hashtags on the theme of acceptance.
Pink Shirt Day was established 10 years ago by students David Shepherd and Travis Price in Berwick, N.S., after a Grade 9 boy was bullied for wearing a pink shirt to school. In a gesture of solidarity, the two boys bought 50 pink shirts and distributed them to students. When the boy showed up for school, he was greeted by a sea of pink shirts. The bully was silenced.
PCHS principal Colleen Galley voiced her pride in the diverse student population and the acceptance she witnessed every day in the halls. The mother of four attended PCHS as a student, was a PCHS teacher and now is in her second year as principal.
“We aren’t doing this because there is a problem here,” Galley said. “We are being proactive. We accept and embrace diversity.”
With support from her older brother, Robinson was able to move forward. She now runs a non-profit foundation called Born to Rise, which organizes events where children and adults gather to give testimony about their personal challenges through dance, poetry, music or spoken word in a safe, accepting environment.
“When I was at my worst, I thought about killing myself,” Robinson told the students. “Through Born to Rise, I want people to know, no matter what the problem, they are not alone.”
Following the speech, 12-yearold Jayden Green, 13-year-old Emma Marra and 16-year-old Theodore Vlachos talked in an interview about navigating the teen years at PCHS.
“Being different is not a bad thing, it empowers you to be greater,” Green said.
Marra remembered feeling a little intimidated when she first began high school.
“Making new friends and fitting in at the beginning of the year can be hard,” she said. “But once you find friends, they accept you for who you are.”
All three embraced the message of hope and acceptance Robinson conveyed, but Vlachos acknowledged how challenging it might be for a troubled teen to get help.
“It’s not easy to open up — to confide — because you feel vulnerable,” he said. “I wish everybody could understand that they are not alone.”
All three agreed that bullying was not a serious problem at the school, but they all had witnessed minor incidents.
The weeklong program of activities at PCHS ended Friday with a pink candy-floss sale. Each cone cost $2 and proceeds went to the Kids Help Phone (1-800-6686868).
The next Born to Rise event is at Westmount High School on April 22 at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $20. For more information, visit www. borntorise.net.