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: 
 

Dear Engaged Bystanders:  I have some new heroes in Maine.  In case you have not seen the story, 5 female students heard another student at Husson College in Bangor Maine call for help.  They all jumped in to wrestle away the knife from her attacker, call the police and hold him imoblie unti

Dear Engaged Bystander:  Alison Hall, the interim director of Pittsburg Actions Against Rape wrote a great letter to the editor about Ben Roethlisberger's birthday celebration.  If you are not familiar with the case, Ben Roethlisberger, is the quarterback for the Pittesburg Steelers.  He has been

Dear Engaged Bystander:  I have always been impressed with the ability of some states to mobilize businesses and other "unlikely partner" to get involved in prevention.  It makes sense, but it is not something I have seen happen very often when you talk about child sexual abuse or sexual assault. 
 

Dear Engaged Bystander:  I am always intrigued with ways that we can get ourselves to change.  Each of us have our own ways to do that, but how do we begin to connect individual commitments into community change? 
 

Dear Engaged Bystander: The Mayor of Trenton New Jersey quoted Edmund Burke in his appeal to the community to come forward and help understand what happened in the gang rape of a 7 year old child. He said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing."

Dear Engaged Bystander:  The front page of the Sunday NY Times had a story titled “Rethinking Sex Offender Laws for Youths Showing Off Online.”    There is so much to say on this issue.