2019 ACSA Leadership Summit

Students have tremendous power and influence in setting and leading the social norms on campus but are often underutilized. They see, know, and hear things that adults don’t and can intervene in ways that adults cannot. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports school connectedness as the "strongest protective factor" to decrease substance use, school absenteeism, early sexual initiation, and violence; also there is a strong correlation between school connectedness and academic success. When students are empowered as leaders to take care of each other and to safely intervene when they witness mistreatment, student voice and leadership increases, discipline incidents go down, and school connectedness goes up. Ultimately the more students are empowered as leaders the more positive the school culture becomes, which can lead to increased school performance.