Congregation Beth Shalom Sisterhood will host an event focused on combating bullying, featuring the committee of its Banishing Bullying Behavior Project and Dr. Ram Chettiar, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Children’s Mercy Hospital.
The free event, scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 22, at 10 a.m., is hosted in partnership with the Beth Shalom’s Polsky Religious School.
About 15 years ago, after the publication of the book “Banishing Bullying Behavior,” co-author Blanche Sosland was asked to speak to one of Congregation Beth Shalom’s chavurah groups. Following that program, then-Sisterhood Vice President of Community Affairs Carol Yarmo helped to organize a committee to go out into the community to educate people on the serious issues of bullying.
A committee was formed, meeting monthly and conducting training sessions as part of the Banishing Bullying Behavior Project. After months of preparation, members were required to make age-appropriate presentations to the group and then choose an age group they were most interested in working with.
For years, this committee has been presenting early childhood sessions at St. Therese School in Parkville, Missouri, and at Shawnee Mission East in Prairie Village, Kansas. It has been working with student teachers in colleges and universities within a radius of 25-30 miles of Kansas City.
Dr. Chettiar, who will speak at the event with the committee, is the medical director of the Depression & Anxiety in Youth (DAY) Clinic and the Pediatric Care Network for Behavioral Health at Children’s Mercy. He is also a clinical associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine and clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Dr Chettiar is also instrumental in Red Card KC, a joint effort between Sporting KC Soccer and Children’s Mercy Hospital to prevent bullying.
Reservations for the program can be made by email Civia White at or Jill Goldstein at .
