ABOUT

Hey U.G.L.Y. has been saving the lives of youth who are suicidal due to bullying

through content on our HeyUGLY.org website and in our

self-esteem and empathy-building school assemblies.

OUR MISSION

Empower youth to be part of the solution of bullying, substance abuse and suicide through self-esteem and empathy-building web content, peer-to-peer learning programs, curriculum, school assemblies, Choose To Change Radio Show and more.

Hey U.G.L.Y. – Unique Gifted Lovable You is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, founded in 2002. We became a nonprofit in 2004 and are dedicated to empowering youth, across the globe, to be WHO THEY ARE instead of having to act how they think they need to be in order to fit in. We remember what it was like being afraid to be ourselves and always feel the need to compete with others. We know what it feels like to be bullied, especially the bullying we do to ourselves. When someone says something awful to us we repeat it to ourselves, 3,000 times. We coined the term, Self-bullying® to help youth get in touch and stop that voice in their heads that tell them they are not good enough and learn how to tame it. And lastly, we also know what it feels like to think self-harm and suicide is the only way out of the pain. But most importantly, we know life gets better and we share that on our Why I’m Glad I Didn’t Take My Life web page.

OUR TOOLS

Major tools are our in-school Assemblies, Bullying Prevention Boot Camps, Stop Bullying Handbook and Deal Feel Heal program that helps youth get in touch with their hurt feelings. Youth who have gone through our programs report being able to be more themselves and actually stop the bullies from bullying. Completing our books certifies them to teach younger kids. How cool to be able to be part of the solution by helping the next generation stop bullying. But we’re not here only for the bullied. We also want to help the bullies because they are being bullied and have very low self-esteem too. BULLYING IS THE CAUSE OF BULLYING.

Older students teach younger classmates what they’ve learned

OUR IMPACT

We are saving the lives of youth who are suicidal because of being bullied.

Students tell us content on our HeyUGLY.org website and in our school assemblies has made them decide to live instead of taking their lives. One student actually saved herself and three other suicidal girls with content on our website.

OUR WORK

The Hey U.G.L.Y. message has reached over a million students

Our programs enable students to become an integral part in the teaching and learning process through our Stop Bullying Task Force Program Curriculum, Empathy Learning Activity Plans (ELAPs), Assembly Presentations, seminars, website, “Choose To Change” radio show, self-esteem-building contests, and work with schools, community organizations and youth development professionals. Our programs enable students to become an integral part in the teaching and learning process.

OUR DIFFERENCE

We help youth have empathy for themselves and others, especially the bully. After completing the empathy for the bully exercise in Hey U.G.L.Y.’s Stop Bullying curriculum, students report an 85% reduction in the pain level experienced because of a bullying situation and also report no longer feeling alone. This is huge because, according to the Department of Education, 160,000 students report staying home from school each day because they fear being bullied. That is three million a month!

OUR APPROACH

Hey U.G.L.Y. believes the first step to empowering youth is communicating with them in a way they can relate. Since the #1 influence on youth is their peers, Hey U.G.L.Y. develops all of its programs and curricula to empower youth to come up with the answers in peer-to-peer group settings, with facilitators guiding them through the process. The #2 influence is the media, which is why Hey U.G.L.Y. provides schools with in-school presenters from speakers from the media. During kick-off assembly presentations these media personalities help students learn how to decrease that ‘voice in their heads’ that tell them they are ‘all alone and not good enough.’ Their personal stories about overcoming bullying and life’s obstacles empower students to never give up and teach them ways to cancel out negative judgments against themselves and others by replacing them with positives thoughts. Hey U.G.L.Y.’s website is full of celebrity quotes about self-esteem, bullying, body image and dating. Their radio show, CHOOSE TO CHANGE, has youth discussing the lyrics to songs they believe will inspire positive self-esteem, equality, a healthy planet, peace or never giving up.

Average survey results from students attending these assembly presentations are:

87% have not been bullied since the presentation;
86% reported not bullying anyone;
77% now recognize when they are having negative judgments against themselves and others; and
69% state they learned to cancel out negative judgments and replace them with positive thoughts.

-Hey U.G.L.Y. Campaigns

-Board of Directors and Advisors