When Your Child is Being Bullied

The Westborough School District has invited Founder and Director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center (MARC) at Bridgewater State University, Dr. Elizabeth Englander, to speak to students, parents, friends and foes about bullying, cyberbullying and cyber safety.

According to Dr. Englander, bullying needs to be dealt with among teenagers and we all need to talk about ways to help kids cope.

“The most common type of bullying are subtle social behaviors that convey dominance and contempt, like laughing cruelly at someone or rolling your eyes to show that you think someone is a loser. Kids need to learn from adults that laughing or whispering around others, eye rolling, or other types of rudeness are totally wrong and should never happen. Even though the behaviors themselves aren’t serious, the constant use of them is very serious because it seriously erodes the climate at school and in the community,” she said.

Dr. Englander will offer strategies parents can arm their children with to ward off bullies. Among them, she suggests encouraging their children’s strengths and helping them to spend time with friends who like them. At home, doing fun activities as a family and never tolerating cruelty between siblings helps your children build strong relationships which will help them resist bullying in a strong way.

If your child is being bullied in school, Dr. Englander suggests that the most important part of helping them is getting information that is specific to the situation. This is what is most often missing.

During the program, Dr. Englander will discuss all facets of bullying - recognizing warning signs, knowing the risk factors, getting help and the effects of bullying. Her expertise in the psychology of violence and abuse, combined with her knowledge of computer science, make Dr. Englander uniquely well equipped to speak to communities in addressing the problem of cyberbullying and bullying. These are among the most pressing issues facing children and education today.

Dr. Englander has been cited in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, theBoston Herald, the Chicago-Sun Times, Slate Magazine, Parade Magazine, USA Today, and dozens of other newspapers.

This public presentation is set to take place in the Westborough High School auditorium on Wednesday, October 5, from 7:00p.m. to 9:00 p.m. 

This event is sponsored by the Westborough Parent Teacher Organizations and the Westborough SEPAC.