As it turns out, there’s a free program that is doing just that around the country at schools like Palmer Elementary in Chicago. Just like reading or math, kindness is a muscle you have to build. And like any other skill, kids learn it best when it’s modeled, practiced, and reinforced.
That means encouraging small, everyday gestures like welcoming a new student, saying “please” and “thank you,” and holding the door. But it can also take the form of explicit lessons in empathy, gratitude, or teamwork. Together, these practices create classrooms where kindness becomes the norm—reinforced by clear expectations.
In a moment when 40% of teens report persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, focusing on kindness makes sense. But studies also show that students who are taught kindness have better academic outcomes. The manifestations of kindness (like collaboration and communication) also happen to be the very skills employers say they value most.
Of course, these are also skills that strengthen our civic infrastructure, predicting higher rates of voting, volunteering, and community participation.
Kindness may even be addictive: the brain rewards acts of kindness with a “helper’s high”—endorphins that reduce stress, boost mood and self-image, and sharpen focus.
Spreading kindness through schools is the purpose of Stand For Children’s Teach Kindness program, which provides low-lift, research-backed lessons already used by educators in all 50 states.
These lessons—available for free thanks to partnerships with UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, Second Step, and others—help students build kind character, kind connections, and kind culture, and focus on building altruistic traits like optimism and integrity. As Stand co-founder Jonah Edelman puts it:
“Kindness is part of what makes schools thrive. When kindness is taught alongside academics, kids build the skills, confidence, and relationships they need to succeed well beyond the classroom.”
To be sure, students from all backgrounds will have better outcomes when they can, in the words of Dartmouth President Sian Beilock, “sit together, and push at each other,” and investing in kindness may be one of the most powerful ways to shape not just better schools—but stronger communities and citizens.
Want more kindness? Join the growing network of schools earning Teach Kindness’ Kind School Designation, and be sure to check out this award-winning documentary project from my friend and Activist Agency co-founder Greg Suess.
