Bullying in Middle School Through the Lens of a Middle School Diary and Memoir

Calm and Connected Podcast

Firstly I want to pre-warn you that my guest Meghan Joyce Tozer and I discuss some tough topics during this episode. Today’s podcast talks about sexual abuse and suicide. We encourage you to keep this in mind when listening to this podcast. Please be aware, especially if younger ears are listening, and please click play with care.

CALM AND CONNECTED - EPISODE 141

Sexual assault and harassment, sadly happens in schools on a too regular basis, whether that’s happening peer to peer or even between teacher to student. We hope our children never have to experience this. Knowing how to parent our children to take ownership of their bodies, so they know how to say no is key. We discuss how to navigate through abuse, bullying, harassment so they can get help is just as vital.

In this episode, I speak with Meghan Joyce Tozer, author of the critically acclaimed novel Night, Forgotten and her annotated middle school diary, UnSlut: A Diary and a Memoir, which she wrote under the pen name Emily Lindin.

The topics we cover are:

How Meghan came to work in this area

The catalyst for sharing her experience

The abuse and eventual suicide of Rehtaeh Parsons and Audrey Pott

Cyber bullying; how technology means bullying is beyond the school gate

The work of the non-profit organization called Stop Sexual Assault in Schools

Preventative measures schools can put in place including Sash Clubs

What parents can do to support their child at home

How Meghan rests and relaxes

About The Guest - Meghan Joyce Tozer

Meghan Joyce Tozer is an advocate for young sexual assault survivors and the author of the critically acclaimed novel NIGHT, FORGOTTEN (2022). She holds a B.A. from Harvard jointly in Music and in English and American Literature and Language, as well as a M.M. in voice performance and a Ph.D. in music history from the University of California Santa Barbara. Much of Meghan’s public writing has appeared under the pen name Emily Lindin, including her annotated middle school diary, UnSlut: A Diary and a Memoir (2015). As the founder of The UnSlut Project, she’s advocated for survivors of sexual assault and abuse on platforms such as ABC with Katie Couric, CNN, The Doctors, Al Jazeera America, and NPR. She’s led workshops in bullying prevention and media literacy at dozens of high schools and universities around North America. She was the 2017 recipient of the Community Leadership Award from Child Abuse Prevention Services. Meghan is also the director and narrator of the award-winning UNSLUT: A DOCUMENTARY FILM.

Website - www.meghanjoycetozer.com

IG: www.instagram.com/meghanjoycetozer

Meghan is on the board of the national nonprofit Stop Sexual Assault in Schools, which provides free toolkits about campus prevention, Title IX rights, bullying, and all kinds of related topics. Her critically acclaimed novel NIGHT, FORGOTTEN is available wherever books are sold.

About The Host - Janine Halloran

Janine Halloran is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, an author, a speaker, an entrepreneur and a mom. As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Janine has been working primarily with children, adolescents, and their families for over 20 years. She is the Founder of 'Coping Skills for Kids', where she creates products and resources to help kids learn to cope with their feelings in safe and healthy ways. Janine also founded 'Encourage Play’ which dedicated to helping kids learn and practice social skills in the most natural way - through play!

If you're interested in learning more about how to teach kids coping skills, download your free Coping Skills Toolkit:

https://copingskillsforkids.com/newsletter

If you're interested in joining the Coping Skills Community Hub, an ever-expanding resource library and community of families and professionals teaching kids how to cope, learn more at https://copingskillsforkids.com/hub

If you'd like to purchase Janine's products, including the Coping Skills for Kids Workbook, Coping Skills for Teens Workbook, Social Skills for Kids Workbook, Coping Cue Cards, and more, visit https://store.copingskillsforkids.com or https://amazon.com/copingskillsforkids

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