On Responding to Online Cruelty with Dr. Elizabeth Englander

Whether experienced online, offline, or both – cyberbullying, cruelty, and exclusion are deeply painful experiences. We want to do everything in our power to protect kids in these moments. But what does your teen actually need from you? Dr. Elizabeth Englander, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center, offers the grounded advice you need to support your teen through these challenges.

Erin talks to Dr. Elizabeth Englander about:

• Why solutions are not always the thing kids need in the wake of bullying and cruelty.
• Why it is important to understand that we generally only know a tiny snapshot of what is happening between kids socially
• The practice that is more effective than confiscating phones
• The most important thing kids can do if they witness cruelty online or in person.

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

• Dr. Elizabeth Englander’s website 
• Bullying and Cyberbullying: What Every Parent and Educator Needs to Know, Dr. Elizabeth Englander
• You Got a Phone! (Now Read This Book), Dr. Elizabeth Englander [for ages 8-13]
• Working Through Digital Dilemmas, Common Sense Media Digital Citizenship Curriculum
• Feelings and Options, Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Take a Stand, Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
• What To Do If Your Child is Cyberbullied, Cyberbullying Research Center
• Growing Compassion: Raising Kids Who Care, Spark & Stitch Institute

Dr. Elizabeth Englander

Dr. Elizabeth Englander is an award-winning author and the founder and Executive Director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center at Bridgewater State University, a Center which delivers programs, resources, and research for the state of Massachusetts and nationwide. She is also a Founding Member of the Social and Emotional Research Consortium (SERC). As a researcher and a professor of Psychology for almost 30 years, she is a nationally recognized expert in the area of bullying and cyberbullying, childhood causes of aggression and abuse, and children’s use of technology. She was named Most Valuable Educator by the Boston Red Sox and in 2018, was appointed to the Massachusetts Governor’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Council. She is on the Scientific Advisory Board for the Institute of Child Development and Digital Media, and in 2023, her 9th book (You Got A Phone!) was awarded a National Parenting Product Award. Her 10th and most recent book, Bullying and Cyberbullying: A Guide for Educators and Parents, was published in December by Harvard Educational Press.

Dr. Englander has served as a Special Editor for the Cyberbullying issues of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry-CONNECT and the Journal of Social Sciences, and has authored more than a hundred articles in academic journals and books. She is also the author of nine books, including You Got A Phone!, the Insanely Awesome series for children, Understanding Violence (a standard academic text in the field of child development and violent criminal behavior), Bullying and Cyberbullying: A Guide for Educators, published by Harvard Education Press, and 25 Myths About Bullying and Cyberbullying (Wiley press). She has also written a variety of research-based curricula and educational handouts for communities and professionals. Reflecting her interest in educating laypeople, Dr. Englander has answered questions in a column for the New York Times (online edition), and she wrote the column Bullying Bulletin Board, which was syndicated by Gatehouse Media in hundreds of newspapers nationwide.

During the global Coronavirus Pandemic, Dr. Englander conducted research with children and educators that has helped to shape the nation’s pandemic response. Between 2020 and 2022, she authored and published five books, one for educators (When The Kids Come Back), two for children aged 8-11 years old (The Insanely Awesome Pandemic Playbook: A Humorous Mental Health Guide For Kids and The Insanely Awesome POST Pandemic Playbook), and two for younger children, all of which both feature supplemental guides and activities for teachers and parents.

For more information visit Dr. Englander’s website and the MARC Center.