Dare to Stand Up, Dare to Care

No child should ever feel alone, afraid or unwelcome in their school community. And yet, the reality is that so many children do. This is the driving force behind Dare to Care, a program that works to address the pervasive issue of bullying and mental illness that continues to impact children and youth to this day. Created in 1999, Dare to Care equips and mobilizes children and youth with the skills and courage to stand up to bullying so they can thrive in life, learning, and play.

Our experiences as children shape the rest of our lives. One of the most important skills that young people learn is practicing self-care and building up their self-esteem—no small feat in a world where political, environmental, and financial unrest are all too familiar and childhood mental illness is at an all-time high.

Therein lies the importance of a program like Dare to Care, developed through the culmination of best practices in bully prevention and trauma-informed education to give young people a meaningful and helpful way to combat bullying through discipline with dignity and community building.

“We need to know how to deal with inappropriate behaviour before it escalates and becomes harmful,” says Dare to Care creator Lisa Dixon-Wells.

Bullying in a Changing World

After serving over 1,000,000 students, parents, and educators over the past 21 years, Dare to Care shifted its in-person workshops to an interactive online program for school communities—becoming the only Bully Prevention program that provides online programming for the entire school community. Online learning will become a permanent part of educational institutes long after the wrath of COVID-19, and never before has it been more critical to create and maintain safe, caring, and inclusive environments for our children and youth. Dare to Care understands that the only way to evoke systemic change in bully prevention is to include ALL stakeholders within the school community, including parents. Dare to Care has created three online programs that provide students, parents, and school staff with the opportunities to learn and develop the common language and skills needed to support children.

The Three

Online Flagship Programs Are: Fourteen grade-appropriate learning modules for kindergarten to Grade 6 (live webinars available for Grades 7-9). Three education modules for parents with students in kindergarten to Grade 12. Three professional learning modules for teachers, support staff and administration. The parent and professional learning modules for school staff also includes a resource portal with posters, FAQ’s, handouts and much more.

A Community Problem, A Community Solution

Although parents are aware that bullying is a problem, some are unsure how to help protect their children. Others may not know if their children are victims, bystanders, or even perpetrators of harmful behaviours. As the shape of bullying changes, so do the ways we combat it. This summer, Dare to Care facilitators added a new module about discrimination and racism which, like other Dare to Care modules, can be implemented at home (for virtual learners) or within the classroom.

Dare to Care is a national leader in bully prevention, receiving numerous awards for building stronger Canadian communities and their leadership in bully prevention.

Every child has the right to feel safe, respected, and included in their school community.

For more information and to access the K-6 learning modules, the parent modules, and the school staff modules, please visit daretocare.ca/virtual-learning-program

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