Jun 03, 2022

On many occasions I have had the opportunity to speak on the topic of prevention of child sexual abuse. This presentation is based on my book titled “Father Figure – my mission to prevent child sexual abuse” which describes a true account story. I have spoken to school counselors, school psychologists and social workers, school principals, child protection workers, child care providers, etc at many different conferences and professional events.  I have also spoken to parents and the general public at several community events. The presentation focuses on the numerous challenges involved in working with the “systems” in trying to prevent a situation that could lead to child sexual abuse.

Purpose of the presentation is as follows:

  • To describe a true account story that focuses on prevention of child sexual abuse
  • The story is about “intervention” and “prevention” and the numerous challenges faced in the process
  • To bring about an awareness of the associated issues that require immediate attention
  • To emphasize the fact that the challenges can be overcome if we are truly conscientious about prevention and are willing to work through a multidisciplinary approach
  • And finally, some comments about what could have been done differently in this specific case to promote a more preventive mindset

It is an extremely important topic because:

  • Child sexual abuse is a major issue even though we don’t really seem to want to talk much about it
  • It has been established through studies that even one episode can impact the life of a victim for many years

May 26, 2022

I have spoken at many conferences and community events about acceptance of diversity. I have also been a panelist and a podcast guest speaking about accepting people from different spheres of life. The contents of my presentations and discussions are typically based on my personal experiences as described in my first book titled “A Life Interrupted – the story of my battle with bullying and obsessive compulsive disorder” as well as from my latest book titled “Minority Viewpoint – my experience, as a person of color, with the American Justice System”.

This presentation/discussion is focused on three key objectives – acceptance of differences in people around you, being kind and respectful to others as opposed to negative behavior such as bias-based bullying, and focusing on self-acceptance so you can achieve success in life.  It includes description of devastating long term impact of bullying that was based on non-acceptance of diversity. It also includes description of negative bias that any person of color might experience. The purpose of this presentation is to motivate everyone to respect others because mistreatment can cause serious life-long impact.

I share my personal stories to inspire everyone to be accepting of people irrespective of their differences and to be kind and respectful in their day-to-day behavior towards others. This discussion focuses on devastating long-term impact of mistreatment (or bullying) that is based on cultural/racial differences. When a person is mistreated because of differences in how he looks or how his name is spelled, the long term impact can be devastating.  During my discussions I use my specific example to make the point that any mistreatment (whether it is based on cultural differences or any other differences) can have similar negative results. My presentation describes my two decades of battle and recovery from obsessive compulsive disorder, a devastating mental illness, triggered because of this mistreatment, and everyone is able to relate to that. The presentation/discussion also includes description of negative experiences I have had over the years in everyday life.

May 19,2022

Over the years I have made several presentations on the topic of “long-term psychological impact of bias-based bullying”. These presentations were based on my first book titled “A Life Interrupted – the story of my battle with bullying and obsessive compulsive disorder”. These presentations have always been well accepted by audiences from different walks of life.

My presentation emphasizes the fact that ability to accept differences in people and to promote unbiased positive interactions are key ingredients for overall success for all of us as a society. If on a regular basis a child is concerned about having to deal with negative issues/events/incidents because he or she is perceived to be racially ‘different’, it is simply not possible for the child to focus on important academic and social aspects of school life. If a child has to deal with such an unsafe environment on a continuous basis, the longer term impact can be devastating.

When a person is bullied because of how he/she looks or how his/her name is spelled or pronounced, it can create a major negative long-lasting impact for years to come. The purpose of this presentation is to describe a personal story that demonstrates how bullying based on cultural/racial differences can cause severe mental health issues for the victim, with a long-lasting impact that typically derails the victim from his/her normal developmental track. This is an extremely serious issue that often goes unnoticed and undetected during school years. Specifically, the presentation discusses the details on how prolonged bullying (based on someone being perceived as different) can trigger devastating long-lasting mental illness and how that impact can torment a victim long after the school years are over.

May 12, 2022

Over the years I have made several presentations based on my book titled “Father Figure – my mission to prevent child sexual abuse”.  One of the topics of my presentations is “Prevention of child sexual abuse – role of a school counselor”. This presentation is based on the details described in my book which elaborates on the challenges in preventing child sexual abuse. In this presentation I focus more on how school counselors might be able to intervene to prevent a possibly abusive situation. School counselors typically have a good relationship with a lot of children and can at times be in a position to be able to help if a situation arises. The presentation is typically very well received by school counselors with a lot of follow-up comments and discussions.

One of the challenges I describe in my book is that our systems do not often respond adequately in a preventive situation, which means doing something “before” it happens, not after. If a school counselor detects a possibly abusive situation and reports to the “systems”, it is more likely that the systems will take some preventive action. In other words, a school counselor’s report will likely receive more attention than a report from an ordinary citizen.

School counselors and other school staff can have a key role in detecting and possibly preventing child sexual abuse. In the true story I describe in my book, it was a school counselor who detected possibility of sexual abuse and reported to the authorities, which eventually led to the arrest of the individual responsible for the abuse. That is why I try to make the point that school staff can have a key role and must keep their eyes and ears open for possible red flags.

May 05, 2022

Victims of childhood bullying can have serious long-term mental health impact that can lead to devastating outcomes such as suicide. We have to find a way to avoid these sad incidents. That is why I wrote my first book about long term psychological impact of bullying. Victims need help so we can avoid any life-changing devastating impacts in the future. It is very real and is still happening.

Many in our society today still do not believe that bullying is a real problem. It seems that many people do not seem to understand that every child has his or her own personality. And that is why bullying does not have the same kind of impact on all children. Yes, it is true that some children are able to ignore it and/or fight back and are able to minimize the impact on themselves. But there are many children whose personalities are such that they are not able to ignore the bullying and are therefore affected very negatively. It is our responsibility as adults to make sure that we have a safe environment for ALL children.

Affected children develop emotional issues that can escalate if not addressed in a timely manner. As I travel around the country for my speeches I have observed that many schools now have counselors, social workers, school psychologists who do understand the issue and try their best to help the affected students. The situation is much better than it used to be 30 years back. But we still have a long way to go. ALL children deserve safe environment and we need to do everything we possibly can to make that happen.

Apr 28, 2022

My latest book titled “Minority Viewpoint – my experience, as a person of color, with the American Justice System” is a gripping new true story about defamation against a person of color, by a white female hotel employee in the small northern MN town of Deerwood.

Following various undesirable events in 2016, I eventually had to bring a lawsuit against the hotel employee for defamation and surprisingly, the hotel in Deerwood supported her over me, their paying repeat customer, in spite of her untrue and unsubstantiated comments to the cops. The hotel’s insurance company paid ALL her legal expenses and hired top lawyers to defend their employee against me (while I had to pay my fees out of pocket). I eventually had my case dismissed much before trial, which I believe was primarily due to less than commendable representation by a prominent MN law firm. I provide details on what I believe were some of my lawyer’s errors and omissions which likely contributed to the undesirable consequences I derived from filing this case.

There is so much for the general public to learn from this remarkable true story. This book demonstrates to everyone, and especially to fellow people of color like me, how defamation can spread through a community, what can actually happen in a lawsuit, with cops, lawyers, law firms, and the whole legal system including lawyers professional responsibility board, and how to fight back against alleged racism and defamation without resorting to violence. It educates people of color on some of the unique risks we can face due to not being part of the white majority, and how certain environments may increase such potential risk factors for us. The book encourages all to do the right thing for the greater good regardless of the final result.

Apr 21, 2022

My book titled “How to stand up to workplace bullying and take on an unjust employer” is all about bullying and harassment in the workplace and is meant for both the employees and the employers.

Bullying and harassment in the workplace is a critical issue that has no place in our society today. It affects countless individuals around the country. In many cases it has caused significant distress for affected employees, ultimately leading to depression and other serious related mental health disorders. It also is not very helpful for the employers because it can result in several different outcomes that are typically negative for the companies.

The purpose of the book is to present a captivating true account story that provides key information, salient advice, and guidance on what workplace bullying is, how it can impact both the employees and employers, how it happens, what to do about it, and how to prevent it. This book forms the basis of the training sessions and workshops I offer to organizations for both employees as well as for mangers and employers.

In today’s world, it is important that all employees have a thorough understanding as to what kinds of things might constitute ‘harassment’ and what kinds of impact that might have. It is also critical for employees to understand what kinds of options they have in dealing with workplace bullying and harassment.

All employers also need to pay attention to this issue. If an organization is not able to maintain a well-established approach in this regard, it may have to deal with difficult situations that might be significantly unproductive (and/or financially damaging) for the organization.

Apr 14, 2022

In the true story I describe in my book “Father Figure – my mission to prevent child sexual abuse” my purpose was to point out the fact that risks of child sexual abuse can come from various different directions. One of the messages I particularly wanted to stress is about the importance of family members and friends keeping a watchful eye on the children in the family. Grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, grand uncles/aunts, etc and family friends can all make a difference in preventive action by making sure children are not in a situation that could possibly lead to abuse.

In the story in my book I focus on the challenges I faced in my efforts to prevent a situation that could possibly lead to child sexual abuse. I found out that it was a challenging experience to try to get child protective services or law enforcement to take any significant actions in this preventive scenario. This was extremely surprising to me. However, it turned out that when I was able to get some family members involved in this effort, it was possible to get the systems to act in this preventive process.

In other words, with the help of some family members, it was possible to mobilize child protective services as well as law enforcement to dismantle a scenario that could possibly lead to abuse. However, it took a lot of time and effort to get the family members to take the matter seriously and to take appropriate actions. Although in this case the outcome was positive, my hope is that family members would act more promptly when it is a matter of preventing the possibility of child sexual abuse.

Apr 07, 2022

In my first book titled “A Life Interrupted – the story of my battle with bullying and obsessive compulsive disorder” I talk about the fact that reactions from bystanders can significantly impact how a bully treats a victim. I illustrate this point through the description of a most interesting encounter I had with one of the worst bullies from my past.

This revealing encounter clearly indicated to me the significant role a bystander can have in encouraging bullying. In this encounter my worst bully had mentioned to me that he used to do all those terrible things to me because “people laughed”. In fact, even if the bystander does not laugh or visibly encourage the actions, just by being there and witnessing it and not saying anything causes the bully to continue his/her irresponsible behavior. Of course it would be best if a bystander can step in and try to prevent the negative behavior – but as a minimum a bystander must not laugh or encourage the actions and should simply go away from the area and report it to the school authorities.

In my case, my long-term Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) was certainly triggered by bullying – it is certain that the impact would not have been this serious if the bystanders had not encouraged the actions of the bully. Bullies typically do not thrive as well if there is no one around to watch their actions and/or to encourage their negative behavior by supporting their actions one way or another. Support from bystanders provides the boost that the bully needs to continue his or her unacceptable behavior.

Mar 31, 2022

My latest book titled: “MINORITY VIEWPOINT: MY EXPERIENCE AS A PERSON OF COLOR WITH THE AMERICAN JUSTICE SYSTEM”, is a true story about defamation towards me, a brown Indian man, by a white female hotel employee in a small northern town in Minnesota.

I ended up having to sue the hotel employee for defamation and surprisingly, the hotel supported her over me, their paying repeat customer, in spite of her unsubstantiated and untrue comments to the cops. The hotel’s insurance company paid ALL her legal expenses and hired top lawyers to defend their employee against me (while I had to pay my fees out of pocket). I eventually had my case dismissed much before trial likely due to less than commendable representation by a prominent MN law firm. The book provides details on what I believe were some of my lawyer’s errors and omissions which likely contributed to the undesirable consequences I derived from filing this case.

This book is full of information for ordinary citizens as well as for fellow people of color like me. It provides a lot of details about how defamation can spread through a community, what can actually happen in a lawsuit, with cops, lawyers, law firms, and the whole legal system including lawyers professional responsibility board, and how to fight back against alleged racism and defamation without resorting to violence. It informs people of color on some of the unique risks we can face due to not being part of the white majority, and how certain environments may increase such potential risk factors for us. The book encourages all to do the right thing for the greater good regardless of the final result.

© 2017 - Sumi Mukherjee
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