Declaration Calls for More Caring Environments in Schools

A group of 23 researchers, educators, and government leaders, in a set of papers being published this week, is urging schools to do more to make students feel cared for and connected.

The statement, which the group is calling the Wingspread Declaration, draws on more than a decade of research in several fields showing that students who enjoy a sense of "connectedness" with their schools get better grades and are less likely to smoke, use drugs or alcohol, attempt suicide, join gangs, or engage in sex during their teenage years.

The declaration came out of a conference sponsored by the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Along with six studies commissioned as part of that effort, it is scheduled to appear this week in a special issue of the Journal of Public Health .