Selfless work: A group of 17 sixth-graders at Bensalem’s School Lane Charter recently formed a Kindness Committee. They volunteer their time to brainstorm initiatives to spread positivity throughout the student body. Source: Dana Tonrey
For the students of School Lane Charter School in Bensalem, September 2021 marked the first time in a year and a half that they were all together in the classroom.
According to sixth-grade English Language Arts teacher Rachel Smith, School Lane staff underestimated the impacts that virtual learning – and exponentially increased time on social media – would have on their pupils.
For example, when little things like magnets started missing, she realized students were participating in the TikTok trend “Devious Licks,” which tasks users with stealing a random item from school, bringing it home and sharing an unveiling video on the platform.
“At the beginning of the school year, I don’t think we were foreseeing the effects of social media. But they’ve been home for so long, we realize now more than ever the impact they’re having on each others’ lives through social media. We’re seeing it in social circles and it’s coming into school all the time,” said Smith. “We came back expecting everyone to have the same attitude of generosity toward fellow man. It turns out we needed to reteach a lot of those social skills.”
In an effort to re-establish a caring community at School Lane, Smith and sixth-grade Individuals and Societies teacher Dana Tonrey launched a Kindness Committee. Currently, 17 of their students are members. On a regular basis, they voluntarily give up their break time to brainstorm ways to promote positivity among the student body.
The committee’s first initiative took place on Nov. 12. Each member made a colorful poster to promote World Kindness Day (Nov. 13) and proudly held them up for their younger peers to see at School Lane’s car and bus drop-off locations. The group, joined by school mascot PAWS, encouraged their fellow students to do one random act of kindness in celebration of the day.
Their excitement was infectious, and Tonrey and Smith couldn’t be prouder.
“It’s nice to see them wanting to do something for no benefit to them. They just want to be there. They want to do something positive,” said Tonrey. “The better we can spread that message, the bigger the impact it’s going to have on the school community as a whole.”