Breaking the Cycle: Youth and Teen Bullying and Abuse

According to the American Psychological Association, bullying is a form of aggressive behavior in which someone intentionally and repeatedly causes another person injury or discomfort. This program examines the gender differences in youth and teen bullying, how technology and social media are impacting certain behaviors, bullying within the LGBTQ community, and domestic abuse among teens/young adults.

Guests include:

Marsha Atkind, Executive Director & CEO, The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey
Ivan Lamourt, Psy.D., Assistant Headmaster, Saint Benedict’s Preparatory School
Lillian Rivera, Executive Director, Hetrick-Martin Institute: New Jersey
Samara Lisa Grossman, D.Litt., Producing Artistic Director, Children & Teen Production Companies & Director, Triple Threat Theater Camp at JCC MetroWest
6/1/19 #105

Excerpt:

"Welcome to Think Tank. I'm Steve Adubato. We're coming to you from the Agnes Varis NJTV Studio in Newark. On this particular edition of Think Tank, we talk about teen bullying and abuse, the cycle that needs to be broken. We have four experts here in our studio. Let me introduce them. We're first joined by our friend Marcia Atkind, who is the Executive Director and CEO of the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey, Doctor Samara Lisa Grossman is the Director of Triple Threat Theater Camp at JCC Metrowest, Lillian Rivera is the Executive Director of the Hetrick-Martin Institute: New Jersey, and finally, Doctor Ivan Lamourt is the assistant headmaster at Saint Benedict's Preparatory School in beautiful Brick City, Newark, New Jersey. Marcia let me start with you. Sure. When we started talking about this, we were doing this program actually in cooperation with the Healthcare Foundation. We had a forum a couple months back. We sure did. A discussion, a whole range of folks on this. If you would define, if you could define, the cycle that we need to break what is it? Oh, I think the cycle is that somebody picks on somebody else and maybe they start out being friends, maybe they start out being nice to each other, and then the aggressor starts bullying the other person. The other person thinks, "Maybe it's my fault? Maybe I should have done something differently?" And then maybe the bully, at some point apologizes, because there's an emotional incident between the two of them. And there's a honeymoon period. And then they start again. I know that that's true in domestic relationships and dating relationships. I suspect it's true in all kinds of bullying. And that's the cycle that has to be broken? How... Absolutely. How significant is it, Doctor that you see? The cycle? It's... Abuse and bullying? It's critical for us to understand that a lot of times what ends up happening is that the... that young child who is now beginning to... By the way, I want to make it clear... I'm sorry for interrupting. You have an all-boys...? All-boys prep school. Yes. Yes. Go ahead. Here in Newark. So that young man, or that young person, that begins to bully that other person, then begins..."