What leads a person to become a bully? Is sports more or less a breeding ground for bullies than other avenues in life? If so, why? If less, why? Those were just some of the questions on the minds of listeners and panel moderators on the September 17 edition of HWTP Sports Talk Radio, a New York City-based weekly sports talk radio show. Associate professor of social work, Ellen deLara, and Falk Endowed Professor of Sport Management, Rick Burton, were the featured guest expert panelists for this roundtable discussion.
Prof. deLara is internationally recognized for her expertise in the areas of bullying and adolescent development. Her research agenda includes systemic school violence, bullying, and social policy, which has been the focus of her research efforts for more than a decade at Syracuse and as a faculty fellow at Cornell University’s Family Life Development Center. She is the co-author of “And Words Can Hurt Forever: How to protect adolescents from bullying, harassment, and emotional violence,” (NY: Simon and Schuster/ The Free Press) and “An educator’s guide to school-based interventions,” (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company). She is currently authoring a new book, “Bullying Scars: The impact of childhood bullying on adult life and relationships,” which is scheduled for release in 2015. Her current research projects include “Consequences of Childhood Bullying on Adult Relationships,” “Immediate and Long-Term Impact of Childhood School Bullying,” “School Bus Bullying: Perceptions of bus drivers and students” and “Adolescents’ Solutions for Decreasing Bullying in Suburban and Rural School Districts.”
Prof. Rick Burton’s areas of expertise include sports marketing, sponsorship and the Olympic movement, professional league management, fantasy/video gaming, sport in literature and the NCAA. He was appointed Syracuse University’s faculty athletic representative to the ACC Conference and the NCAA on July 1, 2014. Prior to his appointment at Syracuse, he served as the chief marketing officer for the U.S. Olympic Committee for the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics where he directed the USOC’s marketing and sponsorship activation at the world’s largest sporting event. From 2003-07, he was the Commissioner of the Sydney-based Australia National Basketball League (a two-continent pro league with teams in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore) and responsible for every aspect of the NBL’s development and growth including securing lucrative TV rights fees, league-wide sponsorships, collective bargaining agreements and league profitability. During his varied career, he has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Ad Age, Sports Business Journal, SI.com, Sport Business International, Stadia and hosted his own sports business television show. A frequent conference host/moderator and dynamic inspirational/motivational speaker, he was also the national advertising manager for Miller Lite (Miller Brewing Company) and a vice president for Clarion Performance Properties (1993-95) where his primary client was the National Football League.