To mark the forthcoming international premiere of MTV documentary ‘Bullied’ – a collection of personal and compelling accounts filmed by 
young victims of bullying across the globe.

Premiering globally on MTV on Tuesday 24th January at 10pm (GMT)
 
MTV and charity Beatbullying have come together with Media Trust to discuss the issue of bullying in the UK.
 
15 young people aged between 17 and 20 years old were invited to MTV’s North London office to debate the issue of bullying following a preview of MTV's hard-hitting documentary, which presents a series of personal accounts from young people around the world who have experienced bullying in any one of its forms (physical, emotional and digital).  

Key themes that were raised in the discussion included the vital importance of empowering youth to have pride in their own individuality, the strength of friendship and respect and the life-long responsibility of every person (regardless of age) to stand up to bullying. In addition, the group identified the integral role and capability of the media to help shine a spotlight on the issue.

Liam Ellis 22 commented: 
“The documentary is a powerful reminder that bullying exists in many forms and can originate from anywhere.  What might be regarded as a joke to one person might be considerably more painful to another. If young people who being bullied watch this film, it will give them hope.”

Kellie O'Farrell, 22 commented: 
“Greater action should be taken to empower today’s youth to be proud of their individuality.  
Anti-bullying sessions should be a compulsory element of the school curriculum.”

Aaron Roach Bridgeman 25 commented: 
“Bullying is not something that starts and ends at school.  It stays with a person forever.  
We must never stop standing up to it.”

Filmed entirely by the contributors themselves, the moving and ultimately uplifting documentary shows what it’s like to live with the torment of being bullied and how one can overcome these struggles. Each contributor invites MTV viewers to experience life in their shoes as they describe their emotional stories. Victims not only bravely share abusive posts and texts, share diary entries of their darkest days, and recount the traumas of physical abuse, but they also open up about how they have grown and risen above the cruel behaviour of others.  MTV presents their story, in their words. 

Georgia Arnold, SVP International Social Responsibility, Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), said: “We are delighted to have collaborated with two fantastic organisations such as Media Trust and Beatbullying to hear first-hand young people’s reactions to the documentary and the issue itself.  Their expert knowledge in this area has proven invaluable to us as we explore the severity of the issue in the UK.”  Arnold continued, “MTV has a long history of reflecting the issues that affect young people in the UK and around the world.  Through international initiatives including our online platform MTV Voices and international documentaries such as ‘Bullied’, we remain committed to acting as an advocate for young people everywhere, to do everything we can to make their voices heard.”

Sherry Adhami, Director of Communications, Beatbullying said:  “As a charity Beatbullying believe in working in partnership with other organisations to tackle bullying, which is why we are delighted to work together with MTV UK and Media Trust to engage with young people directly and raise awareness of the serious issue that is bullying.  We work with the victims of bullying through our Beatbullying schemes and CyberMentors site to give help and advice to vulnerable young people. We have seen over 800,000 young people access the site since we launched and we know from experience that where early intervention is possible. Whether it’s online or at school, young people have a right to live free from harassment.”

Katie Lloyd, Creative Media Director and Deputy Chief Executive, said: "We are proud to be working with MTV UK and Beatbullying to give young people the chance to express their views on such an important issue.  Media Trust runs a number of youth media initiatives designed to empower young people with the skills and confidence they need to get their voices heard and to encourage positive change in the world around them. We look forward to furthering our partnership with MTV in the future to enable even more young people to have their voices heard by a wide audience." 


Bullied premieres on Tuesday 24 January at 10pm on MTV
voices.mtv.co.uk