SALEM — Amid the rise of bullying, harassment and other incidents occurring at sporting events or after-school activities in the Massachusetts sixth congressional district, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton hosted a Facebook Live roundtable discussion on Wednesday to discuss plans aimed toward creating an inclusive and productive environment for children and adults.
“We’ve all been keenly aware of the increase in bullying, harassment and intolerance in not only the district I represent, but the whole country,” Moulton said. “We’re not here to single out one singular team or community, but to discuss how we can make a positive difference.”
Joining Moulton on Wednesday night were four community leaders: Deb Ansourlian, the executive director of Girls Inc. of Lynn; Faustina Cuevas, Lynn’s diversity, equity and inclusion officer; Daniel Lebowitz, executive director of Northeastern University’s Center for Sport in Society; and Robert Trestan, executive director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Boston office.
Moulton served as the moderator for the discussion and asked questions to the four panelists that were submitted by residents of the sixth district. The questions were centered around helping children deal with difficult situations in schools, sports, homes and communities.
One question posed to Lebowitz asked what a child on a sports team should do if two other teammates are in a fight.
Lebowitz said that in middle- and high-school fights, two students or team members are typically surrounded by others repeatedly chanting for them to fight; this puts the bystanders in a difficult situation, he said.
“It is a fight-or-flight response,” said Lebowitz.
He then suggested that instead of telling a child what they must do in the situation, sports and community leaders should actively be promoting prevention education to children, and providing a set of skills they can use during a similar situation.
Ansourlian agreed with Lebowitz’s observation, saying that children do not know how to react in these scenarios and the best way to help them is through practice.
Through her role with Girls Inc., Ansourlian has been helping young girls build relationships and has supported them with personal issues in their homes or community.
“We have a strong relationship with our girls,” said Ansourlian. “Early on in this pandemic, around March 2020, was (our time) to reach out to these girls to see if they were safe and had the tools, the skills and the strengths that they need.”
Ansourlian said the pandemic made things difficult for staff to check on the mental health and wellness of participants.
Cuevas was asked by Moulton about her role in the City of Lynn and what other communities should be looking for if they wish to appoint a similar diversity officer.
Cuevas said the job is a “big undertaking,” explaining that the city is a minority-majority community with a large Spanish-speaking population. She said that her role focuses on listening to people of color and people who speak different languages, and hearing the concerns or ideas that they might have for the city. She then relays this information to the new mayor, Jared Nicholson.
“One of the things that I have been focused on is language access,” said Cuevas. “Being able to have a role like this in your community is like having someone being able to focus on the gaps.”
Moulton said this meeting was aimed at trying to build a better community and he hopes to hold more conversations and roundtable discussions toward that end.
“Leadership absolutely can get us out of here,” said Moulton. “We all need to be leaders and we all need to step up.”
