Popular movement adds new online, grassroots and media programming to help individuals, campuses and communities protect emotional health and prevent distress
NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Love is Louder movement, a project of The Jed Foundation and MTV created with actress Brittany Snow, launched a new site this week at www.loveislouder.com which features a #loveislouder blog, videos, artwork, and songs created by people around the world who have joined the movement. Additionally, the campaign announced 2012 plans to help communities and campuses support the emotional health of teenagers and college-age students, as well as address issues like bullying, negative self-image, discrimination, isolation and depression.
"Through Love is Louder, The Jed Foundation is harnessing technology, the media and grassroots efforts to expand the current dialogue on bullying to include not only the negative voices and pressures that cause pain, but the feelings themselves and how to deal with those emotions," says John MacPhee, Executive Director of The Jed Foundation.
The Love is Louder movement works online, through the media and in communities to strengthen emotional health by building resiliency, creating connectedness, promoting acceptance and empowering others to support their peers. Hundreds of thousands of people have joined the movement online since its launch in 2010 and the new www.loveislouder.com expands that online presence to include:
Other plans for 2012 announced today include outreach to help educators and the media better understand and talk about the connection between bullying and emotional distress, research around tools to build connectedness and encourage help-seeking in community and campus settings, speaking events with Brittany Snow and other spokespersons, and the development and testing of technology to enhance resiliency and coping skills.
The Jed Foundation (www.loveislouder.com) is a national nonprofit organization working to reduce the prevalence of emotional distress and the rate of suicide among college and university students. Over the last 10 years, the organization has launched innovative programs for students, campuses and parents, including the Peabody Award-winning Half of Us campaign with mtvU (www.halfofus.com) that uses the stories of students and high-profile artists to decrease stigma around mental health issues and increase help-seeking behaviors; ULifeline (www.ulifeline.org), a comprehensive online resource center on emotional health with an anonymous screening tool and campus-specific information for getting help; and a model and portfolio of tools that help colleges and universities create healthier and safer campus communities.
About MTV:
MTV is the world's premier youth entertainment brand. With a global reach of more than a half-billion households, MTV is the cultural home of the millennial generation, music fans and artists, and a pioneer in creating innovative programming for young people. MTV reflects and creates pop culture with its Emmy®, Grammy® and Peabody® award-winning content built around compelling storytelling, music discovery and activism across TV, online and mobile. MTV's sibling networks MTV2 and mtvU each deliver unparalleled customized content for young males, music fans and college students, and its online hub MTV.com is a leading destination for music, news and pop culture. MTV is a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. For more information, go to http://www.mtvpress.com
SOURCE The Jed Foundation