(Found on LeaderTalk)

Check out this student-made anti-bullying video now up on YouTube:

The "Drop a Note" concept, such that I understand it, is that students can drop a note where one side is something positive they see and the other side is a concern they have. I’ve long said that bullying only can exist under cover of darkness, and we need all members of a community to care enough to talk to each other to prevent it.

We need safe schools — and safety in more than just the typical sense. Kids need to be able to feel free to explore ideas, think, debate and care. Anything that stands in the way of that ends up eroding the very thing that we all hold most dear — the ability of our students to learn and grow and become healthy young adults. One of the things that makes me proudest this year is that an outside adult told me that one of our students talked to her about coming from a school where the student felt bullied and unsafe. The student started this year with a huge attitude because s/he had never been in a school where it was just o.k. to be yourself. Nine months later, that student is one of our bedrock folks, sitting in on interviews, touring visitors around the building and generally being a great citizen, someone I look forward to seeing in our halls every day. If we did nothing else at SLA this year, creating this kind of culture would have made the school a success.

Thank you to the students who made the video, thank you to the kids at SLA who make it the kind of place where I want to be every day, and here’s a wish that all students find schools where it is o.k. and safe to be themselves.