Bullying, Vaping & The Crisis We're Ignoring | R' Avi Landa
Meaningful People
Meaningful Minute
4.8 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 14 February 2026
⏱️ 87 minutes
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Summary
In this episode of Meaningful People, we sit down with Rabbi Avi Landa, LCPC, Mashgiach at the Talmudical Academy of Baltimore Middle School, Director of Education for Amudim, and Director of the Landa Counseling Center, to tackle one of the most pressing issues facing children and teens today: bullying. Drawing on his work in schools, private practice, and prevention programs worldwide, Rabbi Landa breaks down what bullying actually is (and isn't), why simplistic zero-tolerance approaches often fail, and how power dynamics and repeated behavior can deeply impact a child's sense of self.
The conversation moves from theory to real, practical guidance for parents, educators, and communities: how to respond when your child is being bullied, when your child is the bully, and how empathy-driven intervention and education can genuinely change outcomes. We also explore the broader role of social-emotional learning in building healthier schools and safer communities.
Landa Counseling Center: https://www.landacc.com
Amudim: https://www.amudim.org
Darcheinu SEL Curriculum: https://www.darcheinu.org
OurPath SEL: https://www.ourpathsel.org
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Okay, this is a loaded topic. Somewhere between 25 and 33% of kids report being bullied at least once in their life. |
| 0:07.6 | This is something that there's no end to. |
| 0:09.2 | Bullying is not just one kid annoying another kid. It can feel like the whole world's against you. |
| 0:14.2 | You can feel very isolating. If we just call everything bullying, it doesn't get dealt with in the right way. |
| 0:19.2 | Bullying is when you have some, |
| 0:22.1 | at least perceived power differential, and they utilize that to harm the other person. One kid |
| 0:27.8 | is stronger than the other kid. One kid is more popular than the other kid. One kid comes |
| 0:32.5 | from a more rich family. Cyberbullying is huge and people can be anonymous. That barrier is removed. |
| 0:38.3 | You're not just being bullied by one person, you're being bullied by the entire world in a way. |
| 0:41.3 | Exactly. |
| 0:42.3 | It can continue to happen again and again. |
| 0:43.3 | Very scary. |
| 0:44.3 | Meet Avi Lander, a licensed mental health professional who works every day with kids, teens, parents, and schools dealing with bullying and its consequences. |
| 0:53.3 | He sees how bullying actually works |
| 0:55.2 | firsthand, how it creates isolation, fear, and lasting trauma, and how often the warning signs |
| 0:59.6 | are missed. In this conversation, Avi explains how power, silence, and repetition can push a |
| 1:03.8 | child to feel completely alone and why in the most tragic cases bullying doesn't just hurt, |
| 1:08.7 | it destroys. There was actually a media production that was done a few years ago. |
| 1:13.6 | I didn't really watch it. It wasn't necessarily made exactly for the Orthodox Jewish community, |
| 1:17.6 | but the message was super important. It had to do with a girl who took her life. |
| 1:23.6 | She sent in the mail letters to a bunch of different people who she felt contributed to the reason why she decided to ultimately die by suicide. |
| 1:32.3 | It's very intense for people to watch. |
... |
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