Two world-class athletes are joining a Shred Hate campaign led by ESPN, X Games and MLB, in partnership with No Bully and DoSomething.org (DoSomething), to encourage young people to take action against cyberbullying, which affects 59% of U.S. teens (according to Pew Research Center). All-Star First Baseman for the New York Mets and 2019 T-Mobile Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso has joined five-time X Games Medalist Gus Kenworthy in taping a public service announcement (PSA) as part of this campaign, which runs on DoSomething.org through September 15, 2019.

The PSA features Alonso and Kenworthy relating their personal experiences with cyberbullying and encouraging viewers to take action whenever they see it happen in their daily lives. The PSA, which is currently LIVE on YouTube and will appear across ESPN media platforms during the X Games and through MLB digital channels (e.g., MLB.com and social media), can be viewed HERE.

“Cyberbullying is a prevalent problem in our society that needs to be addressed head-on,” said Alonso. “I’m proud to be a part of the Shred Hate campaign and movement as well as join a variety of groups to help eliminate this negativity in our communities.”

“I’m thrilled to be involved with such an inspiring and positive campaign like Shred Hate,” said Kenworthy. “It is an honor to be a part of an initiative aimed at eradicating bullying, educating kids on choosing kindness, and teaming up with others who share a similar mission at shredding this epidemic.”

“ESPN is proud to partner together with MLB and DoSomething.org to share the Shred Hate message to millions of young people,” said Kevin Martinez, Vice President of Corporate Citizenship at ESPN. “Together, we look forward to inspiring youth to take action and shred cyberbullying.”

DoSomething.org, the largest tech company exclusively for young people and social change, will continue to promote the campaign through its digital channels – DoSomething.org, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, email newsletters, and more. The campaign specifically encourages young people to report negative, otherwise known as “trolling” or “bullying,” actions or accounts on social media platforms by using available tools provided by each platform. DoSomething will also share some of the most powerful stories of young people taking action throughout the campaign. Additionally, DoSomething will create a “Shred Hate Day of Action” on August 14 through which members will be encouraged to share messages of kindness in the comments section on social media and tag their friends, and in turn, DoSomething will reply with a kind comment about them. Any young person who completes the Shred Hate campaign on DoSomething.org by September 15, 2019 will also be entered for a chance to win a $5,000 scholarship.

“A staggering 3 out of 5 young people are bullied online, and most believe there isn’t enough being done about it,” says Carrie Bloxson, Chief Marketing Officer of DoSomething.org. “A movement is underway with young people taking things into their own hands. By anonymously flagging and reporting troll accounts and content, young people are sending a clear message to cyberbullies and leading the way on cracking down on this kind of content. We’re proud to partner with ESPN, MLB, and No Bully as we together make a meaningful and significant impact through Shred Hate.”

Billy Bean, Vice President & Special Assistant to the Commissioner, Major League Baseball said: “MLB is thrilled to work with our partners at ESPN to link the Shred Hate effort with DoSomething.org in an effort to create an opportunity for our nation’s youth to educate themselves and act against this online epidemic. We also are incredibly grateful to Pete Alonso and Gus Kenworthy for sharing their considerable voices in such an influential way.”

Shred Hate, a multi-faceted bullying prevention program that seeks to eliminate bullying by encouraging kids to choose kindness was launched by ESPN and X Games in 2017, with MLB teaming up to lead the efforts. Together with No Bully, a San Francisco-based nonprofit, the program trains and gives schools the tools to activate student compassion as a method for eradicating bullying and cyberbullying, provides innovative bullying prevention programs and works directly with local school districts and cooperating schools. Since its inception, nearly 90,000 students across dozens of schools have participated in Shred Hate programming in the 2017-2019 school years in Aspen (Colorado), Chicago, Connecticut, Dallas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C. Historically, the No Bully methodology, which is utilized by the Shred Hate initiative, has been able to remediate more than 90% of bullying instances.

ABOUT DOSOMETHING.ORG

DoSomething.org is the largest tech company exclusively for young people and social change. We’re activating millions of young people to do good in every US area code and in 131 countries. Using our digital platform, members join DoSomething’s volunteer and civic action campaigns to make offline impact at scale. Our members have clothed half of America’s youth in homeless shelters. They’ve cleaned up 3.7 million cigarette butts. They’ve run the world’s largest youth-led sports equipment drive. And more! Young people have the power and the passion to transform their communities -- we help them get it done. Let’s Do This.

ABOUT NO BULLY

No Bully is a nonprofit organization that ignites compassion to eradicate bullying and cyberbullying worldwide. Founded in San Francisco in 2003, No Bully was started by a collaborative team of educators, psychologists and lawyers committed to building a kinder and more compassionate world through ending the crisis of bullying in schools and online. Since its founding, No Bully has had a 90% success rate eliminating bullying in schools, serving hundreds of thousands of students in the US, and partnering with institutions, families, parents, and students to teach the good use of power by empowering voice, compassion toward others, and inclusivity. With corporate strategic partners, No Bully has reached millions of individuals globally with innovative and design-led campaigns and programs.