The data I’ve been reading lately keeps me up at night. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 67 percent of public schools recorded at least one violent incident in 2021-22, while American Psychological Association research shows that 80 percent of teachers now report verbal harassment or threatening behavior from students post-pandemic, up from 65 percent before COVID-19. As someone who has spent decades working with schools through crises, I can tell you that what we’re experiencing isn’t just a behavioral blip—it’s a fundamental breakdown in the social fabric of our learning communities.
But here’s what gives me hope: the schools that are successfully rebuilding civility aren’t doing it through stricter consequences or more security measures. They’re doing it by returning to something we’ve always known but perhaps forgotten in our rush toward academic achievement—that character formation must be at the heart of everything we do.
The Real Cost of Uncivil Learning Environments
The statistics tell only part of the story. When I dive into the recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics, I see that 26 percent of public school leaders reported that student lack of focus or inattention had a “severe negative impact” on learning during the 2023-24 school year. Meanwhile, 36 percent of schools report that disrespectful behavior toward teachers occurs at least weekly.
What this means in practical terms is profound. Teachers are leaving the profession at alarming rates, with 57 percent expressing desire to resign in post-pandemic surveys. The cost isn’t just measured in teacher turnover—it’s in the erosion of the learning environment itself. When civility breaks down, everything else becomes exponentially harder.
I’ve witnessed this firsthand in schools where fear replaces curiosity, where defensive postures replace open dialogue, and where crisis management consumes the energy that should be devoted to teaching and learning. The ripple effects touch every aspect of school life, from academic achievement to community engagement.
Understanding Character Education: More Than Values on the Wall
Character education isn’t about posting core values on hallway posters—it’s about creating systematic approaches to developing ethical reasoning, civic responsibility, and interpersonal skills. The CHARACTER COUNTS! framework, which has been refined over 30 years, centers on six pillars: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and good citizenship.
What makes character education effective isn’t the specific framework you choose, but how deeply it’s woven into the daily fabric of school life. I’ve seen schools transform not because they added a character curriculum, but because they reimagined every interaction—from hallway conversations to disciplinary responses—as opportunities for character development.
The research consistently shows that students thrive when they feel psychologically safe, connected to caring adults, and engaged in meaningful work. Character education provides the foundation for all three of these conditions by teaching students how to navigate relationships, resolve conflicts constructively, and contribute positively to their communities.
The Restorative Revolution: From Punishment to Purpose
One of the most promising developments I’ve observed is the growing adoption of restorative practices in schools. Unlike traditional disciplinary approaches that remove students from learning environments, restorative practices focus on repairing relationships and rebuilding community.
The numbers are encouraging: 59 percent of public schools now engage in restorative practices, up from 42 percent in 2017-18. More tellingly, charter schools report even higher adoption rates at 72 percent, suggesting that schools with more autonomy are choosing relationship-centered approaches over punitive ones.
A comprehensive study by the Learning Policy Institute found that students with higher exposure to restorative practices experienced not only reduced punitive discipline but also smaller racial disparities and improvements in academic achievement. What particularly strikes me about these findings is that they held true across all student groups—this isn’t about lowering standards, but about raising the entire community.
Building Blocks of Effective Character Development
Through my work with schools implementing character education, I’ve identified several essential components that make the difference between superficial programming and transformative culture change:
Intentional Community Building
The most successful schools I’ve worked with treat community building as seriously as they treat curriculum design. They create regular opportunities for students and adults to know each other as whole people, not just in their academic or professional roles.
This might mean starting each class with check-ins, implementing advisory programs where every student has a consistent adult advocate, or using restorative circles proactively to build understanding rather than reactively to address conflict.
Embedded Social-Emotional Learning
Character development and social-emotional learning aren’t separate initiatives—they’re interconnected aspects of helping young people develop into thoughtful, ethical citizens. The schools seeing the greatest success integrate these elements throughout the school day rather than relegating them to standalone lessons.
This integration might look like teaching conflict resolution skills in the context of historical disputes, exploring ethical reasoning through literature discussions, or using collaborative science projects to develop teamwork and responsibility.
Restorative Rather Than Punitive Responses
When conflicts arise—and they will—the response matters enormously. Restorative approaches ask different questions than traditional discipline: Instead of “What rule was broken and what’s the punishment?” restorative practices ask “Who was hurt, what are their needs, and whose responsibility is it to make things right?”
This shift from punishment to accountability creates opportunities for learning and growth rather than shame and exclusion. Students learn to take responsibility for their actions while maintaining their connection to the learning community.
The Role of Adult Modeling in Character Formation
Perhaps the most critical factor in successful character education is the behavior of adults in the building. Students are constantly observing how adults treat each other, handle stress, resolve conflicts, and respond to challenges. Every interaction becomes a character lesson, whether we intend it or not.
In schools where character education truly takes root, I see adults who consistently model the values they’re trying to teach. They use restorative language when addressing conflicts, demonstrate respect in their interactions with colleagues, and show genuine care for student wellbeing beyond academic performance.
This doesn’t mean adults need to be perfect—in fact, some of the most powerful character lessons come from watching adults acknowledge mistakes, make amends, and commit to doing better. Authenticity matters more than perfection in character formation.
Practical Implementation: Starting Where You Are
For schools ready to strengthen their character education efforts, the key is to start with assessment and move deliberately. Here’s what I’ve learned works:
Begin with Culture Assessment
Before implementing new programs, honestly assess your current school culture. Survey students, staff, and families about their perceptions of safety, belonging, and respect. The data might be uncomfortable, but it provides the baseline you need for meaningful improvement.
Invest in Adult Learning
Character education requires adults who understand both the why and the how of this work. Provide comprehensive professional development that goes beyond one-day workshops to include ongoing coaching, peer observation, and reflective practice.
Research shows that successful implementation requires sustained support—typically three to five years of intensive professional development and coaching for systemic interventions to reach high implementation quality and achieve desired student outcomes.
Create Systems for Practice
Character development happens through practice, not preaching. Create structures that give students regular opportunities to demonstrate and develop character traits: peer mediation programs, student leadership roles, service learning projects, and collaborative problem-solving opportunities.
Measure What Matters
Traditional discipline data tells only part of the story. Track measures of school climate, student connectedness, and community engagement alongside behavioral incidents. Many schools are finding that improved relationships actually prevent many conflicts from escalating to formal disciplinary responses.
The Long View: Character as Academic Strategy
What I find most compelling about schools that have embraced comprehensive character education is how it transforms academic learning. When students feel safe, connected, and valued, their brains are actually more available for learning. The stress that comes from uncivil environments literally impairs cognitive function.
Moreover, the skills that character education develops—critical thinking, ethical reasoning, perspective-taking, and collaborative problem-solving—are precisely the skills students need for success in college, careers, and civic life. This isn’t time taken away from academics; it’s the foundation that makes deep academic learning possible.
Addressing the Challenges
I won’t pretend this work is easy. Schools implementing character education face real challenges: finding time in packed schedules, securing resources for professional development, managing resistance from those who see it as “soft” or “touchy-feely,” and maintaining consistency when staff turnover occurs.
The key is persistence and systems thinking. Character education isn’t a program you add to school—it’s a lens through which you examine and potentially redesign everything you’re already doing. It requires the same systematic approach and sustained commitment we bring to academic improvement initiatives.
The Urgency of Now
The behavioral challenges facing our schools aren’t going to resolve themselves. The post-pandemic increase in aggression, disrespect, and incivility reflects broader societal tensions, but schools have the opportunity to be healing spaces that demonstrate better ways of being in community.
Every day we delay in addressing these issues systematically is another day that students miss opportunities to develop the character traits that will serve them throughout their lives. More immediately, it’s another day that learning is disrupted by conflicts that could be prevented or resolved more constructively.
Building the Future We Want
The schools I’ve worked with that have successfully rebuilt civility share a common characteristic: they made a deliberate choice to prioritize character development as essential, not optional. They committed resources, time, and energy to this work with the same intensity they bring to improving reading scores or graduation rates.
These schools don’t have fewer conflicts—they have better ways of handling them. They don’t have perfect students—they have young people who are learning to be thoughtful, ethical citizens. They don’t have easy jobs—they have meaningful work that extends far beyond test preparation to the formation of human character.
The research is clear that character education and restorative practices work. What we need now is the collective will to implement them with the urgency and comprehensiveness that our current challenges demand. Our students are counting on us to create learning environments where character and conflict resolution skills are developed alongside academic content.
The path forward requires courage, commitment, and community—qualities that are themselves at the heart of good character. As we work to rebuild civility in our schools, we model for our students what it looks like to respond to challenges with hope, determination, and faith in our ability to create something better.
The time for character over conflict is now. Our students, our communities, and our future depend on it.
