In the lieu of flowers, the family ask that you be kind to one another...

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you be kind to one another…

The second leading cause of death in children 10-18 is suicide. What went wrong? What did someone miss? What could’ve been different?  In this situation, a young person was led to hang themselves and attributed it to bullying.  They were 15.  They had found no value in living because it appeared to them that life had found no value in them. In the last line of the obituary, it read in lieu of flowers, the family ask you be kind to one another.

All children need to feel SAFE and COMPETENT. Instead of funding another program that schools pay for that teachers must implement, report on, and succeed at to guarantee renewed contracts, why don’t we expect all schools and classrooms – and the administrators, staff, teachers, students, and parents in them – to create environments where children feel safe and validated.  Let’s adopt the GOLDEN RULES OF THE CLASSROOM^TM_:

1. WE ALL HAVE VALUE
2. WE ALL HAVE BEEN THROUGH THINGS
3. WE ALL ARE IN THIS TOGETHER

(from The Day Trauma Came to Class^TM)

Inside and outside of the classroom, we choose to live in the reality of TRAUMA-INFORMED LIFE PRINCIPLES^TM:

1. EVERYONE MATTERS
2. EVERYTHING COUNTS
3. EVERYTHING CONNECTS

So, today, in lieu of whatever it may be, choose to be kind to one another, choose to practice the Golden Rule and ensure the persons in your charge and circle of influence get the message. #takethegoldenruletoschool

(graphic source: freepik)

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Dr. Ivy Bonk is Educational Psychologist/Consultant with IMAGINAL Education Group, Founder/President of ReThink Learning, Inc.  She is author of The Day Trauma Came to Class and architect of The Lost Child Theory.