from the Committee for Children:

I’m excited to announce the return of Captain Compassion®, our bullying prevention superhero. October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and each week our Captain Compassion webcomic series is back to empower kids, families, and educators to stand up to bullying in all its forms.

Bullying prevention is close to my heart. I’ll never forget the difficult experience of being bullied in my elementary school years, and the impact on me academically, socially, and emotionally as I grew into adulthood. But I’ll also never forget when, many years after my elementary school days, one of the kids who was involved in the bullying—more as a bystander than an active participant—took the time to offer me an emotional apology for not stepping in. It was healing to hear and accept her apology. It also reaffirmed for me how damaging bullying is for everyone involved. Even bystanders can be negatively affected for many years afterwards. This is why I’m so proud of the Captain Compassion campaign, and of Committee for Children’s broader efforts to empower every kid, in every community, to become an upstander.

Since our founding in 1979, Committee for Children has supported the safety and development of the whole child, and that includes protecting them from bullying. We’ve been on the front lines of a nationwide effort to build safe, inclusive, bullying-free communities where everyone can thrive. Along with our award-winning Second Step® Bullying Prevention Unit, the Captain Compassion webcomics are a fun and engaging way to teach kids to refuse, recognize, and report bullying.

Read Comic

For National Bullying Prevention Month this October, join forces with Committee for Children to help keep kids safe! We invite you to participate in our Captain Compassion campaign to prevent bullying and spread kindness in your community:

• Visit CaptainCompassion.org to access the weekly installments of the webcomic series, as well as educational videos, posters for your classroom, relevant research, and a social media toolkit.

• Read the webcomics with your students and talk about the steps you can take to prevent bullying. Don’t forget to check back each week for the latest installment, because each webcomic contains a hidden, coded word for your students to find.

• Download the Secret Decoder Wheel at CaptainCompassion.org so your students can decode each week’s word. Your students can submit the fully decoded message to enter our sweepstakes to win a one-of-a-kind illustration of them with Captain Compassion.

Capacity at these events is limited, and historically they have been very popular. To increase your district's chances of being selected to attend, please prepare your students to present a breakout session and/or keynote speech, or musical or other performing arts performance as doing this will give your district priority registration. Your students are the stars of the show! (Please note that we cannot accept session proposals on the topic of learning styles as this lacks evidence of effectiveness in research literature.) Please carefully select students to attend who will benefit from the conference experience. Parents of student presenters are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Your district is responsible for transporting your students to and from the conference, and for providing sufficient numbers of professional staff to accompany your students to the conference and to ensure adequate supervision and support of your students throughout the day.

Please contact Deanna Allen ASAP if you have a student(s) who you feel would be a great candidate to attend this conference. Please also share your ideas of what our students could present or perform at the conference. We only have until October 6 to submit our registration, so time is of the essence.