The vast majority of our work at the National School Climate Center (NSCC) revolves around three core efforts:
- Assessment of school climate;
- Transformational work with schools and districts to promote school climate improvement; and
- Sustainability efforts that promote policy, encourage and empower new leaders, and support research.
Yet, when I first speak to people about what we do, the inevitable conclusion/connection made is that "you're the guys that do bully prevention." Indeed, NSCC has robust and comprehensive bully-prevention resources that are student-centered, aligned with core curriculum standards, and (amazingly!) free. And we work arduously and continuously to make sure our bully-prevention efforts align with a larger framework to promote safe, supportive, welcoming, civically engaging, challenging, and joyous schools for all students. One metaphor I use to capture this idea that bully-prevention is part of a broader school climate effort is to compare bullying to the proverbial "canary in a coalmine." I tend to believe that if there are bullying issues present in a school community, it is a symptom of other deeper issues.
This was my standard response and my abiding truth ... until recently. Now there is a pretty big and very powerful bully that impedes our positive efforts of assessment, transformation, and sustainability. This bully is increasingly more and more threatening, making it very difficult to align school climate improvement efforts