Lawmakers and child advocates are gathering at the Washington State capitol today to witness Governor Jay Inslee sign Senate Bill 5563 into law. The new law, which was passed unanimously by both the House and the Senate, requires that new teachers receive training on how to recognize and prevent commercial sexual abuse and exploitation of minors.

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Psychologists, researchers and educators from around the globe will gather in Seattle early next week to discuss the importance of teaching social-emotional skills to children of all cultures.

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More and more experts agree that social-emotional learning (SEL) is vital to children’s education and to their success later in life, and Seattle-based nonprofit Committee for Children has long been on the cutting edge of the SEL wave. The latest edition of their research-based and widely acclaimed Second Step program was now features Spanish translations of the lessons and other student and family materials.

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This press release comes to us from our friends at the Northeast Michigan Community Service Agency (NEMCSA), who are about to do an amazing Second Step early learning implementation, thanks to a generous grant they just received. They sent us the story and photo below to tell us a bit more about it. Congratulations, NEMCSA!

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Washington, D.C. – “I can’t learn if I am afraid,” reads the first of several similar slides on the Conditions for Learning Coalition’s home page. It’s a sentiment most of us know instinctively, but more and more research is confirming its truth: School safety and positive behavior are directly linked to academic achievement, and social-emotional learning (SEL) is essential to all three.

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We hear a lot about bullying these days: its prevalence, its causes, its effects. Less frequently do we hear about solutions to bullying: tangible, practical things we can do to keep our children safe.

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In the wake of the Boy Scouts of America’s release of the so-called “perversion files” last week, many adults are wondering how—and even if—we can keep our children safe from sexual abuse.

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On October 10, at the University of Washington, Committee for Children will host a panel of top child sexual abuse prevention experts from across the US, who will discuss the best ways to foster environments in which children can be safe from sexual abuse—that is, to avoid another Penn State catastrophe.

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Schools using a bullying prevention program saw significantly less physical bullying and fewer teachers reporting fighting as a big problem, according to a University of Washington study to be released this week.

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There sure is. And it starts with adults.

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Art with Heart and Committee for Children collaborate on the re-launch of an activity book that helps children who are dealing with the emotional challenges of family situations such as divorce, foster care, death, and more.

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Schools using a bullying prevention program saw significantly less physical bullying and fewer teachers reporting fighting as a big program, according to a University of Washington study to be released this week.

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The iconic children’s television show hosted this month a panel of anti-bullying experts, which included a representative from nonprofit Committee for Children, creators of the Steps to Respect bullying prevention curriculum that recently showed positive effects on bullying behaviors in a randomized controlled trial.

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Local nonprofit Committee for Children hosted a meeting in Manchester, England, last week of their international partners that have translated and adapted their Second Step curriculum.

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This week, CINE announced the winners of the highly regarded Golden Eagle Award, which included three music videos from the newly released Second Step program by Seattle nonprofit Committee for Children.

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This weekend, thousands of school counselors will be in Seattle for the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) annual conference, which Committee for Children is sponsoring.

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Committee for Children is releasing a completely new edition of their Second Step social-skills program, based in part on research that shows that children with better social-emotional skills do better academically. The release includes a specially designed curriculum for early childhood, a brand-new but much anticipated addition to the critically acclaimed program.

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Committee for Children, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization that provides violence- and bullying-prevention programs to schools worldwide, is joining Microsoft, Cartoon Network, and Hazelden in sponsoring the Seventh Annual Conference of the International Bullying Prevention Association November 15-17 in Seattle.

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Local nonprofit Committee for Children celebrated its 30th anniversary by honoring Denise Louie Education Center, Highline Public Schools, Snohomish County Human Services Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, and Lake Washington School District with Visionary Leadership Awards for their outstanding work.

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A University of Washington study has confirmed what thousands of schools across the country have already discovered: The Steps to Respect program is an effective tool to prevent bullying.

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Committee for Children has named Sabrina Powers, JD, to its board of directors. Powers is a corporate attorney in commercial licensing for Microsoft Corporation, where she is the lead attorney for licensing for personal computer and embedded device operating-system software.

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Despite a seemingly constant flow of horrific and heartbreaking stories in the media, it’s the topic no one seems to want to talk about with their own kids: child sexual abuse—not by strangers but by people they know and trust. But, experts say, talking about the issue is exactly what’s needed to help prevent abuse.

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The Raikes Foundation and Committee for Children today announced a partnership fueled by a three-year, $235,000 grant to help students at three local middle schools avoid risky behaviors, prevent violence, and succeed in school, while also advancing research in the field of social-emotional learning to make learning programs from the nonprofit Committee for Children even more effective worldwide.

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Bullying isn’t just harmless playground behavior. It’s something many children witness each and every day, and it can have long-lasting, serious consequences. An astounding eight out of ten boys and girls in middle and high schools across the United States report being bullied, points out Committee for Children.

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Committee for Children has named Karen Tvedt, Ph.D., and Paige Hamack to its board of directors. Committee for Children is a 30-year-old Seattle-based nonprofit that develops award-winning, research-based social-emotional learning curricula for kids in preschool through eighth grade. 

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Committee for Children was honored at an awards event on August 20 at Safeco Field, where the Puget Sound Business Journal named the local nonprofit a runner-up in the 2009 Washington’s Best Workplaces program.

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Local nonprofit Committee for Children has named Jane Nakagawa as director of resource development. Nakagawa has been involved in fundraising and nonprofit management for over 20 years, including 12 years at United Way of the Bay Area, where she served as senior vice president.

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The “Seeds of Compassion” that were planted by last year’s visit by His Holiness the Dalai Lama are flowering at the New School at Columbia in Seattle, as teachers blend a Seeds-inspired “theme of the month” with lessons of the school’s violence prevention curriculum, the Second Step program. The theme for May is “love.”

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In the midst of gloomy reports about bullying-related suicides, lawsuits, school attendance problems, and fear is a ray of hope from a research study that reaffirms that careful implementation of a comprehensive bullying prevention program can decrease bullying and young bystanders' support of it.

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This week marks the tenth anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings. Have all the reports, studies, and extra security measures made our schools safer? Have we learned anything?

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Lois Maag has joined the board of directors of Committee for Children, a Seattle-based nonprofit whose programs advancing the social, intellectual, and physical well-being of children are used in 25,000 schools in 21 countries.

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A nationally noted expert on violence prevention said today that the introduction of a bill in the Washington State Legislature that could pave the way for child abuse prevention programs to be implemented in schools statewide is “an important step toward making our children safer.”

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Committee for Children has named Alayne Sulkin, publisher of Parent Map magazine, and Yoko Miyashita, corporate counsel for Getty Images, to its board of directors.

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Grown-ups who have problems getting along with each other—adjusting to new situations, recognizing the feelings of others, or using thinking skills to resolve conflicts—might turn to some of the Head Start children at Denise Louie Education Center in Seattle, Washington, for some tips.  Nearly 86 percent of the center’s students had mastered these skills by age 4.

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For students in a Los Angeles school “right in the middle of Watts,” school has a different atmosphere than it did four years ago. Office referrals are down. Attendance is up. And school is a safer place to learn.

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Soon, more than 34 million U.S. children will be on winter break. As they face cold, often blustery weather, they will likely spend more time online without adult supervision, and thus be more exposed to cyber bullying. As a result, their winter break activities could adversely affect their emotional and physical health and school performance. 

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Ed Rogan has been elected chairman of the board for Committee for Children, a Seattle-based nonprofit that develops and publishes programs and curricula for children about social skills, bullying, and sexual abuse that are used all over the world.

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Joan Cole Duffell has been named executive director of Committee for Children, announced board president Debra Boyer, Ph.D. A nonprofit leader in the field of social-emotional learning, Committee for Children publishes Second Step: A Violence Prevention Curriculum and three other programs that advance the social, intellectual, and physical well-being of children.

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Students who are bullied at school are at increased risk for hurting themselves and other students, according to Joan Cole Duffell, interim executive director of Committee for Children, an international nonprofit organization that focuses on preventing violence and bullying in schools around the world. 

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His Excellency Valdas Adamkus, President of Lithuania, today praised the Second Step violence prevention program at the sixth annual International Consortium held by Committee for Children, in Vilnius. 

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