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WEEK of January 21, 2008
@BFS! archives

Rosalind Wiseman, Author of Queen Bees & Wannabes, to Speak at Brooklyn Friends School January 31

Rosalind Wiseman, the author of the New York Times-bestselling book, Queen Bees and Wannabes, will address parents and teachers at Brooklyn Friends School, 375 Pearl Street, on Thursday, January 31 at 7 pm. Admission to the lecture, part of a speakers series sponsored by the school’s parent association, is free and open to the public. The topic of her talk is “Dealing with the Difficult Parents, Teachers, Coaches, and Counselors in Your Child’s Life.”

Ms. Wiseman’s first book, Queen Bees and Wannabes, was the basis for the Lindsay Lohan film Mean Girls; it was written for parents and focused on ways to help tween and teen daughters survive cliques, gossip, boyfriends, and the realities of adolescence. Her second book, Queen Bee Moms and Kingpin Dads: Dealing with the Difficult Parents in Your Child’s Life, is a much broader examination of peer pressure, social cruelty, ruthless competition for status, and the very real power and influence other adults have on children’s lives.

In Queen Bee Moms and Kingpin Dads, Wiseman gives parents the guidance and support needed to survive the challenges of what she terms “Perfect Parent World.” With insight, honesty, and a refreshing dose of humor, the author and educator offers up much-needed sanity and solutions to the struggles most parents face—from dealing with overcontrolling PTA parents and bullying coaches to avoiding party one-upmanship or the pressured push to put every child on the “gifted track.” She suggests creative yet realistic ways to manage conflicting parenting values, work through problems when you or your child are at fault, and address such hot-button topics as alcohol, sex, and cell-phone dependency—all while keeping your child safe from the looming threat of “social suicide.”

Drawing on hundreds of conversations and interviews conducted with parents, educators, and children, Ms. Wiseman discovered that the source of the negative behavior found in Girl and Boy World is too often parents—from whom children learn, by example, how to act in difficult situations. Outlining the social hierarchies in Perfect Parent World—from the entitled Queen Bee Moms and Kingpin Dads to the middle-of-the-pack Steamrolled Moms and Cavemen Dads—Ms. Wiseman shows parents how to recognize patterns of problem behavior in both themselves and others, how to crack the code of what parents are really saying, and how to communicate more effectively.

She also devotes specific chapters to teachers, principals, coaches, and counselors—and provides an inside look at their challenges and expectations in order to help parents interact with them in a more constructive way.

The mother of two, Rosalind Wiseman lives in Washington, D.C. and is a cofounder of the Empower Program, a nonprofit organization that empowers youth to stop violence and reaches more than ten thousand youth and educators each year. She speaks to children, teens, parents, and educational professionals throughout the world and has been profiled in the New York Times, People, USA Today, Oprah, Nightline, Today Show, CNN, Good Morning America, and many other outlets.

Brooklyn Friends School parents and teachers may pre-order copies of Rosalind Wiseman’s two books and may also register their children for child care and homework help on the evening of January 31—download a form here.