BTS has sent a meaningful “Love Myself” message through the video.
Recently, the United Nations has revealed a special video on the International Day of Friendship (July 30th). The video was made by UNICEF and BTS which is a part of the Love Myself campaign – a campaign aims to stop violence against children and young people all around the world.
In the 2-minute-30-second-long video, BTS delivers to the children and young people, who have experienced or are experiencing different types of violence and abuse from family, school or the society, a message saying: Love and kindness are powerful enough to heal the wound. Especially, the video was made in 6 languages including English, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese.
“Children and young people have told us time and again that being treated with kindness and respect helps them to feel safe in and around school,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore on Twitter. “Everyday students face a range of violent acts, from bullying and physical attacks to corporal punishment, sexual assault and harassment online. By being kind, children and young people can show their support for each other and brighten someone’s day. We’re grateful to BTS for their continued commitment to making sure that no child is afraid to go to school.”
Lee Ki Chul, general secretary of the UNICEF Korea said, “We are very glad that BTS, who is conveying messages of hope to teenagers around the world, has joined us in this global campaign for an end to violence. Hope that the video in collaboration of UNICEF and BTS on the International Friendship Day will be encouragement and comfort to children and adolescents worldwide as well as becoming a motivation for everyone to share kindness with each other.”
BTS’s video has received more than 2 million views on Twitter and YouTube in 2 hours. The hashtag #BTSLoveMyself and #EndViolence has gotten into the worldwide top trending with more than 1 million tweets. The netizens shared their stories about the hardships they had to face in life and appreciated this meaningful campaign from UNICEF and BTS which is walking alongside children all over the world.
Some comments said: “This video needs to be shown at all schools. BTS’s influence on the young generation is enormous”; “Not just talented singers, BTS also spreads meaningful messages to make the world a better place”; “Loving yourself is not an easy thing to do. At some point, society’s standard becomes too high and what I see in the mirror is not capable enough to fit in with that society. But then I found BTS, I’m still on my way searching for the right way to love myself but I don’t want to end my life anymore”…
This video was made in 2018. After the filming, BTS members have said: “Our LOVE MYSELF campaign is all about encouraging every young person to find the love from within themselves and spreading that love to others”. In their concerts, BTS always says thank you to their fans while at the same time, reminding them to love themselves. In a gig in the U.S in May, leader RM once said: “Please use BTS as a determination for you guys to love yourself because you guys have helped us learn how to love ourselves”.
According to the UNICEF, up to 150 million children and teenagers – half of the number of students worldwide (13 ~ 15 years old) – have experienced various forms of violence from groups of peers inside and outside of schools. In a survey conducted by this organization last year, children from 160 countries agreed that “kindness” is the most important factor to eliminate school violence, cyberbully and some other different kinds of abuse.
Source: iOne
