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Milford-based bullying prevention program teaches kids to ‘Look for the Good’

Bullying is a huge problem in the United States, but it doesn’t seem to be going away despite all the anti-bullying campaigns out there. That’s wher...
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Bullying is a huge problem in the United States, but it doesn't seem to be going away despite all the anti-bullying campaigns out there.

That's where Anne Kubitsky and the organization she started, "Look for the Good Project," come in. Instead of giving the message of fighting bullying, this organization focuses more on the positive.

"It's a gratitude campaign, and it's a bullying prevention program. So instead of fighting against bullying, we're actually building up the positive vibes in the school," Kubitsky told FOX 61.

And it seems to be working, at least according to the kids. Kubitsky says "96 percent of the students are reporting that they would recommend the program to other schools, three in four kids are saying that it prevents bullying."

So what is the "Look for the Good Project" about? Well, it's a two-week campaign that can be brought to any school. At the beginning, kids receive a kit in the mail to help plan out their campaign -- which is run by students to promote leadership within the student body -- and they start a group project.

As Kubitsky explains, "They do a huge gratitude wall where they're writing on sticky notes what they're thankful for every day for two weeks, and then they write a 'you matter' letter to someone who really matters to them and they read them out loud, which is the most significant part of the program."

That's part one. Part two seems to be the part that really inspires the kids. "To translate that into kindness, because the idea is gratitude opens the door to kindness, the kids pass out these little kindness cards which say, 'Thanks for being an awesome human. The person giving you this card really appreciates something that you did. Please pass this on when you see the good too.'"

And while the kids can give the cards to anyone, it has promoted unity in many schools. "The kids actually write their initials on the front, and then they pass it to someone, the next person, and then it keeps going around the school."

The Connecticut Association of Schools has backed the pilot program, and it has been endorsed by the commissioner of education.

To learn more or find out how to bring the program to your school, click here. And read some of our previous coverage of the campaign here.

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