Major League Baseball announced today that it will be working with ESPN on its bullying prevention initiative called Shred Hate, an innovative program created to put an end to bullying in schools and help youth choose kindness. No Bully, a nonprofit that trains schools how to activate student compassion to eradicate bullying and cyberbullying, will work directly with local school districts through this program. Shred Hate was launched in January at X Games Aspen, Colo. The program was able to reduce 94% of bullying cases in the Colorado schools that implemented the No Bully System®.
Shred Hate will be active during the 2017-2018 academic year in schools within three MLB markets - Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Minneapolis, home of the 2018 X Games - and will expand to additional cities following the initial launch year. MLB and ESPN will collaborate with No Bully on its curriculum and will support the initiative through various multimedia platforms and other promotional activities.
Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. said: "Young people should be able to enjoy a positive and formative time in school and in sports. Students who are experiencing anything less deserve our support. Major League Baseball and our Clubs believe in creating respectful, non-discriminatory and anti-harassment environments in our ballparks, clubhouses and front offices. We are proud to extend that approach through Shred Hate as we work with our partners at ESPN and No Bully to make a meaningful impact on the development of our society's future leaders."
"Bullying has become an epidemic across our country and the timing couldn't be more critical to take action," said John Skipper, President of ESPN. "We're thrilled that MLB has joined ESPN and X Games to eradicate bullying through Shred Hate. With our combined resources and reach, our impact will be tangible."
"Schools trained in the No Bully System are solving over 90% of bullying incidents," said Nicholas Carlisle, founder, No Bully. "This initiative will prevent students from suffering from what so many of us endured when we were in school."
Through Shred Hate, cooperating schools will utilize the "No Bully System®," a non-disciplinary, innovative model that guides K-12 school leaders and teachers 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 schools with an alternative to suspension and 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, 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.
Major League Baseball will apply best practices and share key learnings from Shred Hate through its various youth initiatives. Additionally, No Bully will work with both MLB and ESPN to integrate baseball themed-components into curricula after the initial launch year.
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.
About No Bully
No Bully® is a US based non-profit organization that trains schools how to activate student compassion to eradicate bullying and cyberbullying. The non-punitive No Bully System® has created bully-free campuses for 140,000 students. For more information, visit www.nobully.org.
About ESPN Corporate Citizenship
ESPN believes that, at its very best, sports uplifts the human spirit. Its corporate citizenship programs use power of sport to positively address society's needs through strategic community investments, cause marketing programs, collaboration with sports organizations and employee volunteerism, while also utilizing its diverse media assets. For more information go to www.espn.com/citizenship.