Major League Baseball, ESPN and X Games today announced the addition of five MLB Clubs to theShred Hate initiative, an innovative joint program striving to put an end to bullying in schools by encouraging youth to choose kindness. The new Shred Hate Clubs that will support the bullying prevention efforts, starting in the 2018-2019 academic year, are the Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers,Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates and Texas Rangers. This group joins the original list that includes the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins and Washington Nationals.Shred Hate was launched in January 2017 at X Games Aspen and has since reached nearly 30,000 students. Historically, the No Bully methodology, which is utilized by the Shred Hate initiative, has been able to remediate more than 90% of bullying instances.
Through Shred Hate, No Bully, a nonprofit that trains schools how to activate student compassion to eradicate bullying and cyberbullying, will work directly with local school districts in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Dallas. This is in addition to No Bully continuing its work with schools in Colorado and Minneapolis/St. Paul, and providing continued learning opportunities to existing Shred Hateschools in Chicago and Washington D.C. Nearly 60,000 students will be reached through the program in the next academic year.
A new out-of-school Shred Hate­ module also has been developed for use in after-school and summer programs, or wherever youth may experience bullying. The lessons, available for download at www.MLB.com/ShredHate, are designed to last approximately 20-30 minutes each and are complementary to the No Bully System® in-school methodoloy. MLB plans to utilize the out-of-school module through RBI programs nationwide as well as through its MLB Youth Academy network in multiple cities throughout the United States. Also launching this academic year, will be a Shred Hate module specifically designed to train student athletes and coaches to be champions against bullying. These athletes will learn how to be "upstanders" and lead schools in their bullying prevention efforts. MLB and ESPN will continue to collaborate with No Bully on its methodology, and will support the initiative through various multimedia platforms and other promotional activities, including public service announcements featuring Major League players.
Additionally, MLB will host a social media-driven, Shred Hate activation at the upcoming MLB Little League Classic presented by GEICO in Williamsport, Pa. The activation, which will be located at MLB's "PLAY BALL Park" at the Little League International Complex, will look to raise awareness about bullying and the Shred Hate initiative among the thousands of kids and parents attending the 2018 Little League Baseball World Series.
Billy Bean, Vice President & Special Assistant to the Commissioner, Major League Baseball, said: "Shred Hate has been an extraordinary opportunity for baseball to use our considerable platform and positively influence the lives of young people where our teams play. The courageous stories shared by some of the students participating in the Shred Hate program, and who have been affected by this epidemic, inspire us to multiply our efforts. We are incredibly thankful to our clubs who have stepped forward in support of this initiative as we continue to grow an inclusive and accepting culture throughout every level of our sport."
"Shred Hate is stopping bullying at unprecedented rates," said Kevin Martinez, ESPN vice president of Corporate Citizenship. "We're excited to expand on this success and bring the program into more schools, while raising awareness on this critical issue using the incredible reach and platforms of MLB, its clubs and X Games."
Through Shred Hate, cooperating schools and youth-focused programs utilize the "No Bully System®," a non-disciplinary, innovative model that guides K-12 school leaders, teachers, and youth sports administrators through an integrated series of leadership coaching sessions, teacher trainings and parent workshops to create and sustain a bully-free culture for the long term. The No Bully System® provides an alternative to suspension or discipline, and rather promotes an environment revolving around cooperation and respect to ensure compliance with state and federal anti-bullying laws. A No Bully facilitator, who will be assigned to each participating school and program, will travel to administer trainings around the No Bully Coaching Leadership Team Guide and be available throughout the program for support.
Program monitoring and evaluation will play a central role in Shred Hate. Key performance indicators will include, but are not limited to, the following: reduced solution of incidents of bullying, reduction of severity and incidents of bullying, active student engagement in solutions, active parent/guardian and community engagement in bullying resolution, and additional positive shifts in behavior.
In a study by the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Department of Education, nearly one in four students - more than 10 million total students - report being bullied each year in the United States.