Mean Kids

How can adults help kids who are likely to be targeted for bullying? How can we try to turn kids who are likely to be mean in a better direction? And how can we prevent bystanding and help kids step in if they see mistreatment happening in front of them? Middle-school teacher Gordon Center uses stories from history, from his school, and from his own life to try to bring out the best in all of his students.  And psychoanalyst Michael Klein explains some of the forces that can cause people to act less than ideally when confronted with bad behavior in a group.  

In today's episode children's book author Julie Sternberg talks with fellow writer Katherine Center--author of 5 novels, including Happiness for Beginners--and Orrit Hershkovitz--who as a child was the victim of emotional bullying--about a theme that recurs in children's literature:  the ways in which kids treat other kids badly.  Katherine and Orrit both tell stories from their childhood and address these questions, among others:  Why are some kids chosen to be bullied?  Why do kids who have been bullied sometimes become mean kids themselves?  Why are so many kids bystanders, watching as bullies behave nastily and doing nothing to stop them?  Rabbi Laurie Phillips, who was a classmate of Orrit's when Orrit was bullied, continues to regret deeply being a bystander at the time.  

Announcing the end of Season 1 of Play, Memory and the upcoming start of Season 2.

Wendy Lipsey and Elayne English have the friendship of a lifetime.  But the intensity of their bond is matched by the intensity of struggles they've faced--struggles that have brought them closer and driven them apart.  I interview them together for this episode, revisiting at the same time moments from my own childhood.

I’ve asked a number of authors whether they’ve ever seen good versus evil playing out in front of them, and their intriguing answers have led to surprising conversations.  This episode includes thoughts about good and evil from New York Times bestselling author Peter Abrahams—who is Stephen King’s “favorite suspense novelist”—and debut middle-grade novelist Kat Yeh, whose novel THE TRUTH ABOUT TWINKIE PIE is “stuffed with charm” (in the words of Kirkus Reviews). 

Falling under the spell of a "slightly evil" best friend; a sleepover that ended all future sleepovers; and the ways we choose sides in our families and with friends.  These issues and more are explored in Episode 3 of Play, Memory, which features a conversation with award-winning children's book author Rebecca Petruck.  Rebecca shares stories from her childhood and insight into how her childhood has affected her work.  

Multiple New York Times Bestselling author Michael Buckley tells the story of his childhood in an interview that he has called "probably the most honest and personal thing I have done in a public forum."

For for this first episode of Play, Memory, I reveal a secret from my childhood.  In Act One, I revisit that secret moment with a long-lost person from my past.  In Act Two, I speak to a clinical psychologist about the secret.  And in Act Three, I talk to my editor, Liz Van Doren, about the power of secrets to shape stories and emotions.