Dear Engaged Bystander:  If you are like me, you have a stack of research papers you have been meaning to read all summer.  I wanted to create a short series of my favorite research articles to share with you and I hope to keep them all  to under 500 words.  

Dear Engaged Bystander:  When I go on our summer family vacations, I do try to leave my work behind.  I also try to stay unplugged from the phone, the Internet, and any other form of "work."  Yet it never really happens that way...

Dear Engaged Bystander: Another workshop idea… In a recent workshop for women, someone asked man excellent question. “We work with so many different cultures and customs, how can we tell someone when and how to intervene?”   The group was silent, and I felt a sense of hopelessness in the room – how complex this issue really is, how many differen

Dear Engaged Bystander: When I have the chance to lead a workshop, I am always struck by the strong social expectation that we all seem to hold -- when faced with a crisis, no one will step out of their comfort zone to offer help. 

Dear Engaged Bystander:  The Merriam Webster definition of a bystander is: “one present, but not taking part in a situation or event: a chance spectator.” When I read this definition, it implies that we can watch an event and not be affected by it. Even the term, “bystander apathy” implies that people can watch and then choose not act because the

Dear Engaged Bystander:  Do you ever read a news story or editorial and find you keep thinking about it?  Well, on July 17th I read an editorial in the NY Times titled Tone Deaf in Rome.  Like the editorial, I was appalled by the news conference held at the Vatican which d

Dear Engaged Bystander: This is the last of 3 postings by Meg Stone.  Thank you Meg for the guest blog postings! 
 

Dear Engaged Bystander. I know that being an engaged bystander is not easy. We address issues many people would rather ignore. We have to communicate with enough self-assuredness that we are not dismissed and simultaneously approach challenging conversations with warmth and flexibility so that people feel supported and motivated to change.

Dear Engaged Bystander: I am thrilled to announce that Meg Stone has agreed to be our first guest blogger next week. For those of you who may not know her, Meg is the executive director of IMPACT self defense.

Dear Engaged Bystander:  I recently read an article in the Washington Post, "Churches Grapple with Whether to Accept Convicted Sex Offenders." 
 
The article begins with the following: