What is this?

This is a Guide for teachers, created by the National Coalition for Safe Schools, who want to implement SECD best practices in their classrooms. SECD, or Social, Emotional and Character Development, provides the fundamental framework that will improve student behaviors and mental health, school and community safety, classroom environment, the teacher's working conditions, and student learning as students become healthy, productive and caring human beings.

The Health Problems Children are Facing

The Problem
It is the year 2020, and the headlines regarding the overall health of American children are not encouraging. Suicide rates have risen significantly over the past two decades. School shooting incidents have generally increased over the past fifty years, with record years in 2018 and 2019. Dramatic rises in teen depression, anxiety, and mental and behavioral disorders have been reached over the past few years. Teens reported last year they are stressed out at record levels, with 70% reporting anxiety and depression are their 'major' concern, ranking over other pressing issues such as bullying, drug and alcohol use, gangs, and poverty.

The Questions
Why is this? What are we missing as teachers in the classroom? And are these issues so daunting and widespread that there is nothing we can do to help change the trends, and help our children become healthier and happier human beings?

The Answers
It turns out that we know how to begin chipping away at these problems, and if done correctly and over time, we can make our students healthier, happier, less misbehaving and less violent, which means our classroom environments become healthier and happier places in which to work and learn, with student academic achievement improving. Over thirty years of work and research in Social-Emotional and Character Development (SECD) have produced clear, consistent results and evidence that a focus on the whole health of each child produces results that decrease negative behaviors while improving learning.

This site is dedicated to informing and guiding teachers in how SECD can help us transform any grade level classroom into a safer and more inviting environment for teachers to do and enjoy their job, and for students to learn more by becoming healthier and more caring human beings. 

It is time to focus on more than the physical and intellectual health of students while they are in school - we MUST also focus on the mental, social and emotional health of students! 

 We must focus on the WHOLE health of our children. 


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