Top ten reasons to start programs that build safety and inclusion on school campuses:

support
  1. Reduce problem behaviors, violence, suspensions and expulsions.
  2. Increase academic achievement.
  3. Increase time spent on learning and decrease time spent on discipline.
  4. Build community on campus and strengthen relationships among and between students and educators.
  5. Empower students toward greater responsibility for their own actions and for the climate of their school.
  6. Create among students sense of pride and belonging to the campus.
  7. Improve students' sense of self-worth and pride in their identity.
  8. Promote empathy and caring behaviors within students.
  9. Bring leadership, resolution and coping skills into the community.
  10. Maximize receipt of school funding through higher attendance levels.


Sources

  1. Community Matters; Garrard, Wendy M. (n.d.) Does Conflict Resolution Education Really Reduce Antisocial Behaviors in Schools? The Evidence Says YES!. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.; International Institute for Restorative Practices Graduate School, 2009; International Network on School Bullying and Violence, August 2005; Jones, 2004; Sumner, 2010
  2. Community Matters; Heydenberk, 2000; Jones, 2002; Jones, 2004
  3. Community Matters; Creating Safe and Drug Free Schools, 1996; Heydenberk, 2000
  4. Porter, 2007; Sumner, 2010
  5. Sumner, 2010
  6. Community Matters; GLSEN, 2007; Porter, 2007
  7. GLSEN, 2007
  8. Heydenberk, 2000; Jones, 2004
  9. Jones, 2004; Sumner, 2010
  10. Community Matters