Max Bowen
North Attleborough police officer Julie Lowe participates in an anti-bullying educational event at Grace Church.
On May 29, Grace Church in North Attleborough held an anti-bullying panel discussion as part of its "Community Conversations," a project to hold conversations of relevance at the church, intended for the entire community.
Laura Orcutt, one of the organizers of the event, said via e-mail that this event was a way to educate the community about the reality of bullying that children today face.
"Many are aware of children being bullied, but few if any are informed about bullying and what to do about it," Orcutt said. "Children are taught in school how to handle it, but parents are not informed. So, we provided the opportunity for parents and concerned adults to become informed."
The panel of guests at the event included school social worker Kathy Schlecht, child psychologist Denise Barber, lawyer Austin McHoul and North Attleborough police officer Julie Lowe.
Senior warden Kay Standifer said that the hope with these "Community Conversations" is to turn Grace into a community resource on discussion topics such as bullying, Alzheimer's and dementia care, the opiod crisis and elder concerns.
"We want to turn Grace into a community resource. We have this beautiful building and we want to find ways to use it to serve the greater community and not just our members," Standifer said. "God loves everyone in our community and we want to make sure we live out our beliefs for everyone."
--Bridget K. Wood