ESPN & X GAMES Aspen Kick Off Shred Hate Bully-Prevention Campaign

ESPN and X GAMES have teamed up with some of the most innovative bullying prevention programs in the country - No Bully, GLSEN, DoSomething.org and Crisis Text Line - to launch the X GAMES Shred Hate campaign. The new initiative aims to tangibly reduce bullying rates in our X GAMES communities of Colorado and Minnesota, and for X GAMES fans worldwide. The campaign is being supported by X GAMES athletes, who will be part of Shred Hate rallies in schools, beginning tomorrow, Jan. 18, with visits to three schools in Pueblo, Colorado. The ACTION SPORTS athletes attending the different school visits will include Shred Hate spokesperson Jack Mitrani, Aspen natives and Aspen high school alumni Torin Yater-Wallace and Alex Ferreira, 10-time consecutive Snowmobile SNOCROSS gold medalist Tucker Hibbert and BMX legend Kevin Robinson.

"I'm beyond excited to be involved with such an inspiring and positive campaign," said Jack Mitrani, X GAMES host and snowboarder. "There really is so much potential with this program, and it is an honor to be working alongside my favorite ACTION SPORTS athletes as well as the X GAMES platform to collaboratively make a positive impact in Colorado, Minnesota, and across the country."

ESPN is working with the ground-breaking organization No Bully, which will provide an enriched bullying-prevention curriculum to schools. Within this program, school leaders are coached on how to lead culture change on their campus and sustain a learning environment where all students are included. No Bully also engages parents, guardians and civic leadership to ensure a community-centric approach to bullying prevention. The last independent report on the organization shows that schools across the U.S. trained by No Bully are able to remedy an astounding 90% of cases of bullying. Additionally, GLSEN will help the schools become safer and more affirming for LGBTQ students, who experience far higher levels of bias-based bullying and harassment than their non-LGBTQ peers. Hostile school climates mean LGBTQ students are half as likely to participate in school sports and other activities.

Participating Colorado schools include: East High School, Heaton Middle School and Risley International Academy of Innovation in Pueblo, Colo.; Glenwood Springs High School in Glenwood, Colo.; and Carbondale Middle School in Carbondale, Colo.

X Games Shred Hate will work with several other programs to create change nationwide, including Crisis Text Line to ensure that people have an outlet if they're in crisis by texting BULLY to 741741. Additionally, as part of the campaign, DoSomething.org will encourage its 5 million members to write a negative story, phrase or idea that they want to overcome on a large piece of paper and then SHRED IT by running through it like they're crossing a finish line. Photos will be posted and shared socially to show their peers that they're taking a stand against bullying. X GAMES fans also will have an opportunity to get engaged onsite, with interactive Shred Hate programming connecting young people to important resources and information.

"Action sports can be a positive avenue for athletes and youth whose individuality may not fit into 'traditional' team sports," said Kevin Martinez, vice president of ESPN Corporate Citizenship. "In that regard, ESPN has used its X GAMES platform to launch Shred Hate to help students choose kindness and reach them no matter what stage they might be in - to prevent bullying from happening, to help those already affected and reach those who are in a state of crisis."

For more information please visit XGames.com/ShredHate.

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