#FREETHESHOULDERS

HEAD & SHOULDERS LAUNCHES ANTI-BULLYING CAMPAIGN, #FREETHESHOULDERS

Head & Shoulders has announced that it will be joining forces with the Anti-Bullying Programme from The Diana Award charity.

Partnership seeks to educate one million young people, parents and adults to help end bullying and eliminate cultural stigmas.

Announcement comes as research finds that, during lockdown, cyber-bullying increased by 37%, with 40% of young adults admitting to being bullied for their looks.

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The easing of Covid-19 restrictions is a time that should be joyous and exciting for young people. But for many, the idea of seeing people in person comes with a sense of stress and anxiety, with four in 10 having experienced bullying due to their looks, 27 per cent due to their hair, and 36 per cent being bullied because of their dandruff.

Dandruff is a common skin condition that affects one in two people, yet misconceptions and stigma mean it can be a source of bullying.

Research commissioned by Head & Shoulders found that as a result of bullying, almost seven in 10 13-to-25-year-olds lack confidence in their appearance – with 58 per cent going as far as to say they ‘hate the way they look’.

Head & Shoulders is on a mission to stand up for those bullied because of their dandruff, and is joining forces with the Anti-Bullying Programme from The Diana Award as part of a two-year partnership. Aiming to restore people’s confidence, the brand will create a schools programme to educate one million young people, parents and adults by 2023. It hopes this will help to both end bullying and eliminate some of the cultural stigmas that are the source of bullying today – with dandruff being one of them.

Uniting on this mission to inspire positive change in the future of young people, Perri Kiely of Diversity joins as Head & Shoulders Anti-Bullying Ambassador. Having filmed a powerful TikTok dance that bursts the bubble on negative insults, Perri channels personal experience into his moves, spreading waves of confidence by encouraging people to duet him and shake off the bullies. 

Discussing his new role as Head & Shoulders Anti-Bullying Ambassador, Perri opened up about his experience of bullying.

“I was bullied a lot at school because I always stood out as the big hair kid in the glasses. When I joined Diversity, it was still really difficult as now I had millions of eyes on me and with all the incredible fan support I received, I’d also get abusive social posts. I was lucky because I had the support of my group which gave me comfort and confidence. It’s important for me to bring awareness to this campaign and empower others to join me in brushing off the negativity. No matter the reason, bullying should never be accepted.”

Perri Kiely

This is why Perri is joining forces with Head & Shoulders and the Anti-Bullying Programme from The Diana Award. The organisation runs the nation’s leading anti-bullying programme, engaging young people, parents and adults to change the attitudes, behaviour and culture of bullying by building skills and confidence to address different situations. It instills the belief that young people have the power to change the world.

“At the Anti-Bullying Programme from The Diana Award, we believe in the power of young people to stand up for what is right and to support each other. In the UK, you spend around 11,000 hours of your life at school, so it is such a crucial part of young people’s development and childhood, of which bullying should not be a barrier to them fulfilling their potential and leading happy and safe lives. Through our work we have seen that our school programmes can really empower young people to change behaviours and shape attitudes, ensuring school is a safe and happy place. This is why we are so proud to team up with Head & Shoulders to continue to fight bullying.”

Alex Holmes, Deputy CEO at The Diana Award

“We’re delighted to be teaming up with Head & Shoulders on this new 2-year partnership. Like us they share our mission to help change attitudes and cultural stigmas to bullying.”

Tessy Ojo CBE, CEO at The Diana Award

The #FreeTheShoulders campaign kicks off with a launch film on the 18th October. To participate in the programme, schools, parents, teachers and kids can sign up at antibullyingpro.com/freetheshoulders

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