Mark Wahlberg voted U.G.L.Y. celebrity role model of 2010 in Sixth Annual Program

Mark Wahlberg is the U.G.L.Y. celebrity of 2010. This most prestigious honor was bestowed upon him as voted by American teens and tweens.

The consensus from the voters is that Wahlberg deserves this honor because of all of the adversity he overcame.

Wahlberg dropped out of high school and was addicted to drugs. At age 16 he was convicted and sentenced for assault. While Wahlberg could have led a life of crime he explains that he chose to turn his life around during a 45-day stint in jail. He has reached out to those he has hurt and apologized. He has channeled his energies and talents in the creative arts where he has excelled as an actor and producer.

For the past four years Wahlberg has been executive producer of the popular Entourage series on HBO. This year's Boardwalk Empire, directed by Oscar-winning director, Martin Scorsese, had Wahlberg executive producing two episodes and HBO's In Treatment, starring Gabriel Byrne, has Wahlberg as executive producer..

Wahlberg, who received an Oscar nomination for his riveting performance in The Departed, has starred in The Fighter, Date Night, Our Brothers, Three Kings and The Perfect Storm, to name a few. He capably moves from dramatic roles to comedic characters with ease and self-confidence.

Self-confidence is key to the mission of Hey U.G.L.Y. – Unique Gifted Lovable You (HU), the international nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering youth with self-esteem-building programs to enable them to be part of the solution to societal ills like bullying. One of the areas that contribute to low self-esteem in teens is our celebrity obsessed society which is why HU created the U.G.L.Y. Celebrity of the Year Award. It helps teens understand and embrace that it's what you do instead of what you look like that matters the most.

Celebrities are nominated as part of Hey U.G.L.Y.'s media literacy program. In the program teachers hold open discussions with their students about how we are all bombarded with news and gossip about celebrities. They delve into what characteristics make a good role model. Students then create a list of three celebrities that they think are good role models and three which they believe are not. After each group explains their selections to their classmates, the teacher sends the nominee selections to Hey U.G.L.Y. who tallies the results.

"Mark Wahlberg is a shining example of overcoming adversity and we applaud teens for recognizing his transformation," said Betty Hoeffner, co-founder and president of Hey U.G.L.Y. the international nonprofit organization dedicated to helping teens be part of the solution to societal ills like bullying. "He inspires us all to know that we can consciously make the choice to change and turn our lives around. He is an inspiration to all youth especially those suffering from low self-esteem."

Low self-esteem is a critical issue facing teens today. It has been proven that low self-esteem affects learning and can lead to such problems as delinquency, unhealthy relationships, eating disorders, substance abuse and suicide. According to most estimates, about 30 percent of today's teenagers are dropping out of high school and every school day 160,000 students miss school because of bullying.