Disinformation and extremism in the current politically polarized landscape threaten the well-being of young people and communities across our country. Helping young people build resilience against manipulative extremist narratives and conspiracy theories requires all adults in a young person’s trusted network to be equipped with the skills and knowledge to intervene. A key strategy for building this resilience is offering communities tools to both identify insidious extremist narratives and strengthen their own care networks. These LFJ articles provide resource connections.
During this back-to-school season, let’s commit to ending school pushout and keeping children in the classroom. Effective classroom facilitation is critical to supporting student learning and lessening behavior concerns. We offer this classroom facilitation model with practices to help educators respond to student behavior with the goal of ensuring well-being and keeping learning on track rather than maintaining absolute control. It focuses on children’s development instead of punishment and offers proactive and inclusive practices to create affirming learning spaces.