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Lecture - THE BULLY SOCIETY: Shootings and the Crisis of Bullying in America's Schools
Twelve years after the Columbine High School massacre, school shootings have gone from a rare, shocking aberration to a frequent, yet still shocking, tragedy. Despite ubiquitous zero-tolerance policies, school violence continues. Even if they’re not getting beat up or shot at, students routinely endure verbal assaults and  torment from other students—often as school faculty look the other way, or worse, join in. For many children and teens across the country, school feels like a hostile, oppressive, and dangerous place. Why has vicious bullying become commonplace in schools?

Jessie Klein delves into the roots of school violence in all its forms, from “everyday” bullying to shooting rampages to the alarming rise in adolescent depression and suicide. To get to the core of bullying, she draws on extensive studies and firsthand interviews with both targets and bullies  in schools from rural, inner-city, and wealthy suburban communities; she also shares her experiences with these issues from the two decades she's worked in schools and universities. Throughout, she tells the stories of men, women, and children who suffered — emotionally, psychologically, and physically —because of school culture norms. Backed by hard-hitting statistics and haunting personal accounts, her book
The Bully Society reveals how students get the message, from the media, as well as their parents and teachers, that status and power are everything;  boys learn from an early age to assert manhood by wielding power over girls, while girls are increasingly pressured to be tough too, and to use violence to prove themselves; surprisingly, teachers and parents often contribute to the bullying problem even when they are trying to ameliorate it. What can concerned educators and parents do to stop this hurtful yet widely accepted pattern of behavior? In The Bully Society, she discusses the steps necessary to transform debilitating school cultures.  

She shares successful school-based efforts, where teachers are working to bond with students and help them become leaders in creating a caring school environment; students then reach across ethnic, economic, social, cultural, and gender divides to create authentic connections among one another; in this way students finally replace the jockey for popularity which comes at the expense of building true friendships. Rather than focusing on identifying a “troubled teen,” She suggests that the goal is to  diagnose disturbing values affecting the school; schools need to commit to building a  culture of acceptance, where students can develop their potential, contribute to their communities, and connect meaningfully with other people. "I believe that change is possible in our schools. Together we can move from a destructive one-size-fits-all bully society to more compassionate communities—where students, families, and community members can finally thrive".


Jessie Klein, Ph.D., MSW, M.Ed. is an Assistant Professor of Sociology/Criminal Justice at Adelphi University. Over the last two decades she also led and administered high school guidance programs. She served as a supervisor, social work professor, college adviser, social studies teacher, school social worker, substance abuse prevention counselor and conflict resolution coordinator.
Date: Friday, April 26, 2013
Time: 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Location:
Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Hatch Auditorium,
1468 Madison Avenue at 100th Street, New York, NY
Suggested Donation: $10-$35


The Laurie Phillips Memorial Lecture is supported by the Phillips Family.
It honors the memory of our colleague and friend and brings to the community leading contributors
to the psychoanalytic field.



Giving Our Daughters What They Confide They Need: An Ongoing Dialogue on Sexuality from Childhood through Adulthood
Based on McFadden’s study of 450 women, in which they could reveal whatever was important to them, this workshop will focus on what those women most wanted to talk about: how girls learn about sexuality from their mothers and how this impacts the women they become. To support their self worth, daughters report wanting to feel a sense of belonging and being welcomed by their mothers into the gender they share. To that end, we’ll explore simple changes that can be made to avoid the distance daughters say gets created in the mother-daughter bond throughout the life cycle when their bodies, desire and the complexities of sexual relationships are seen as topics too taboo to comfortably discuss. By illuminating the unhelpful messages we can unintentionally pass onto our girls as well as our adult daughters, we’ll be able to reframe talking about sexuality as an act of maternal love and female cohesion rather than a source of awkwardness.
Joyce McFadden NCPsyA LCSW
Saturday, October 20, 2012 11:00am-1:30pm
Location: TBA
This Workshop is Filled.

WORKSHOPS FOR THE PUBLIC
AND PRACTITIONERS


It's Hot or It's Not--Sustaining Sexual Desire
and Erotic Energy 
POSTPONED
This workshop for the public will address how women can stay in touch with, nurture and re-find their desire and erotic energy, especially in long term relationships. For many, long term relationships pose a particular problem to maintaining sexual energy as familiarity and comfortableness can replace excitement and aliveness. We will look at what goes into attending to an erotic life, what gets in the way and what makes it so hard to maintain. We will also explore if there is an intrinsic incompatibility between safety and erotic excitement. All are welcome, whether gay or straight, in a relationship or not.
Wendy Miller, Ph.D.
Spring 2013 - date TBD
Location: Greenwich Village Fee: $60



WORKSHOPS FOR THE PUBLIC
WOMEN, AGING AND THE BODY EXPERIENCE FILLED
How do we accept and even enjoy our aging bodies while living in a culture that demands an ideal body and promises eternal youth?  How can we comfortably live in our bodies as we confront and absorb the unrealistic images and messages that bombard us daily? Aging is a challenge for all and also an opportunity to look more deeply at our own attitudes and feelings. In this experiential workshop we explore the dichotomy of the realities of aging and the socially constructed expectations of how we should age with an eye towards developing new and positive perspectives.
Bonnie Gitlin, LCSW and Lela Zaphiropoulos, LCSW
Saturday, April 6, 2013
10:00am - 12:00pm
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan Fee: $60