"Cookies and Compliments"

I first heard the phrase "cookies and compliments" used by Active Minds, the national nonprofit organization which creates awareness of mental health issues and offers support and guidance to college students. At the University of Connecticut, members of Active Minds stand in the middle of the campus every couple of weeks handing out cookies and offering compliments to passers-by, such as "Hey, nice shoes". I applaud this organization for using such a simple act of kindness, the compliment, to create awareness of their organization. I strongly believe that "cookies and compliments" could also be a success in elementary, middle and high schools. Perhaps student representatives of each grade could
hand out cookies and compliments every couple of weeks. I wonder how fast kindness could spread!

Engage and Empower a Friend!

Engage and Empower are two words that I have been asking middle school students to practice in order to avoid social exclusion, a form of bullying that can often occur among friends.
Engage: When you first notice that a friend is behaving or acting differently, such as sitting away from you and your other friends or looking sad, engage your friend in your activity(s). He or she may have been feeling left-out of a group activity. If your friend does not change his or her behavior and continues to look or act sad, then,
Empower: Ask your friend in a caring way to please share his or her feelings with you or another trusted friend. To engage and empower a friend may keep him or her from feeling socially excluded.