NEW PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM CONCERNED
CHILDREN'S ADVERTISERS TARGETS SOCIAL BULLYING

OTTAWA, November 26, 2003 - The Honourable Martin Cauchon, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today launched Concerned Children's Advertisers strong new anti-bullying commercial "Words Hurt" which focuses on psychological bullying and the need to create awareness and empathy on this vital issue. Produced in partnership with the Government of Canada's National Crime Prevention Strategy, the spot was introduced this morning at the National Capital Region YMCA-YWCA to a group of grade 4/5 students from Elgin Street Public School.

"Statistics show that there is an incidence of bullying every 7 minutes on school playgrounds," says Minister Cauchon. "We as a society need to send out a message that this is totally unacceptable. Every one of us has a role to play to ensure that we take a stand to stop bullying."

"Psychological bullying, particularly verbal and social bullying, can be misconstrued as teasing or as a harmless rite of passage," says Cathy Loblaw, President and C.O.O. of Concerned Children's Advertisers. "We want to help children and families to understand that this kind of bullying can be as hurtful as a slap to a child. This form of aggression undermines a child's self confidence and self worth - damaging them inside with lasting results."

Following on the success of "Walk Away", the anti bullying message produced last year, the goal for "Words Hurt" was to create a commercial which would demonstrate in an emotive and graphic manner the painful and negative impact of this kind of bullying. By being aware of the negative impact of their actions, the belief is that kids will tap into, and act on, their feelings of empathy for the victim.

Canadian experts Dr. Debra Pepler and Dr. Wendy Craig studied social and verbal aggression in two longitudinal studies in Canadian schools. They found that a substantial proportion of youth in high school, 65% of boys and 75% of girls reported being socially and/or verbally aggressive towards a same-sex peer. Looking at the self reported incidents of 'rumour telling' and 'exclusion', the experts found that only about 12% of girls told rumours in grade 6 steadily rising to more than 30% by grade 9. Even more prevalent was 'ignoring' - almost 40% of grade 6 girls ignored another girl rising to over 70% by grade 9. Experts also found that contrary to popular belief, the incidence of social bullying was as common among boys as girls.

"Most concerning" states Dr. Pepler "is that the numbers reflect that any involvement in psychological bullying is associated with an increased risk for other problems, including delinquency, other forms of aggression, anxiety and depression. The greater the severity of the bullying, the greater the likelihood of experiencing a range of other psychological problems. Girls, particularly at this age, have such a natural need to "fit in" and "to belong" that social and verbal bullying can do damage to their self esteem and sense of self worth that can take a long time to heal."

"Words Hurt" was created and produced through the exceptional and generous work of Toronto ad agency, Publicis. Focused on girls 8 - 12, the ad aims to visually show through high tech animation techniques the effect that words and exclusionary behaviour can have on a child. By illustrating the effect of the actions of not only the bully, but her clique, the audience is reminded that both bullies and bystanders need to take responsibility for understanding the effects of their words and their actions. Focusing on girls at this age is a pre-emptive strategy, to try to prevent psychological bullying from becoming an established behaviour.

"After working with CCA on Walk Away, we felt that our team was truly committed to understanding and trying to affect change in this important area for Canadian kids," says Duncan Bruce, Senior VP, Executive Creative Director, Publicis. "We were astounded by the highly personal and emotional reaction that we got from friends, colleagues and our own children to the first anti-bullying ad and felt that it was important for us to continue to do what we could to raise awareness into this vital issue."

"Words Hurt" was the second in a three year campaign being produced in partnership with the National Crime Prevention Strategy. The Government of Canada's National Strategy takes an early intervention approach to crime prevention and was launched in 1998 by the Department of Justice and Solicitor General of Canada. Children who are involved in bullying and victimization are at risk for developing problems later in life such as criminality, dropping out of school, unemployment, depression, anxiety and generalized levels of reduced attainment and competence in adulthood. A decrease in the instances of bullying would therefore also likely lead to a decrease in crime in later years. For more information on the National Strategy please visit www.prevention.gc.ca

"Almost 90,000 children and youth use Y Programs just at our locations in the National Capital Region. Hundreds of thousands of children use Y programs nationwide where our focus is to encourage them to like and respect themselves and each other. "Words Hurt" and "Walk Away" are vital tools for Canadian children and we strongly support CCA's work and are honoured to host this announcement," stated Bill Whillans, President and CEO National Capital Region YMCA-YWCA.

Concerned Children's Advertisers is a not-for-profit organization of 24 member companies, supported by forty partner companies, who use collective resources and skills to create and implement initiatives which educate, empower and benefit the children of Canada. Since 1990, CCA has produced more than thirty-five high quality television commercials to aid children in making wise media and life choices. In addition, CCA's national TV&ME program extends the learning potential of CCA commercials by providing teachers with lesson plans and parents with tips and tools to help children address the media and life challenges they face each day. For more information and additional resources to help stop bullying, visit www.cca-kids.ca.

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