Anti-bullying advert banned from television
January 14, 2010
A commercial produced by anti-bullying campaigners to promote the website cybermentors.org.uk has been deemed too offensive to be aired on the television. The advert features a girl sitting in he bedroom sewing. At the end of the advert the viewer realises that she has actually been sewing her own mouth closed. The advert makes the point that children who are being bullied often feel there is no one they can talk to about it and that is why cybermentors.org.uk has been set up. The website allows those being bullied to share their experiences on line.
Emma Jane Cross, chief executive of Beatbullying says that she is disappointed that Clearcast, the body in charge of deciding what it is acceptable to broadcast during television advertisement breaks, has decided that they cannot allow the spot to be shown. However the advert will be shown on the internet and in cinemas. Ms. Cross points out that bullying is a very real problem and that if the advert can help another child to find the support they need from cybermentors then all the hard work put into making it will have paid off.
The family of a girl who was driven to take her own life after being the victim of bullying over a social networking site has said that they fully endorse the campaign. The parents of fifteen-year-old Megan Gillan who ended her life on an overdose of pain killers have said that they hope that the advert means that no other family will have to lose a loved one to bullying.
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