Category: Blog

The Dangerous Game Hiding Behind a Water Gun

As “Senior Assassin” spreads across high schools, what seems like harmless fun is raising serious safety concerns, from realistic-looking toy weapons triggering police responses to tragic accidents nationwide. By starting simple conversations at home and increasing awareness, parents and communities can help ensure graduation season stays safe, celebratory, and free from preventable harm.

Youth Mental Health – How the Safe School Ambassadors® Program Makes a Difference

In a post-pandemic world where screen-based connection has intensified youth anxiety and isolation, the evidence-based Safe School Ambassadors Program equips students with concrete intervention skills, including “Getting Help,” to build safer, more inclusive school communities and a student-led mental health safety net.

When Bullying Happens – Build a Family Safety Plan

A practical action plan for parents and children with clear steps to address and prevent online bullying.

Answering the Call: How Safe School Ambassadors® Helps Boys and Young Men Thrive

On July 30, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to confront rising suicide rates and growing disconnection among California’s boys and young men, calling for coordinated mental health, education, and workforce support across the state.

Peer Mentoring and Strengthening Community

Resilience is a concept that emerged in the psychological field in the 1990's, referring to an individual's ability to recover from adversity. Coming to an understanding of resilience has engendered controversy: what does it take for an individual to have the golden substance of resiliency? Is it natured or nurtured?

UP End Hate Pilot Gives Safe School Ambassadors® More Tools to Improve School Climate

by Rachel Hunkler

Community Matters and the Eradicate Hate Global Summit share the goal of empowering and engaging youth voices. We believe including young people in anti-hate and community safety efforts is critical to their success.

We know that young people’s actions can make a tremendous difference – sometimes the difference between life and death. Research on this topic indicates that approximately 80% of school shooters leak communications indicating their intentions prior to their attack.  Research also tells us that peers are more likely to receive these leaked communications and are, therefore, much better positioned to identify concerning behaviors.

That’s

Safe School Ambassadors 25 years after Columbine

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 25 years since the tragic mass shootings on April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. I can vividly remember watching the horror on live television as students and staff were desperately climbing out of windows trying to get out of harm’s way any way they could.

Building Social Emotional Learning Through Play

From helping them understand their emotions to setting the right goals and showing empathy to others, as a parent, you want your child to be equipped with the necessary social and emotional skills through social-emotional learning (SEL). And to ensure that your child develops them, it's important to remember that learning always starts at home.

Dayspring Pens partners with Community Matters

Dayspring Pens is proud to partner with Community Matters through a donation of 40 engraved pens. It is an honor to be able to donate to an organization that works so diligently to serve students and adults through the creation of safe, welcoming, and inclusive schools and communities

Creating Safe Schools Begins in the Classroom

School safety should be intentional and can and should be created and supported by every individual in the school community. One of the most significant safety threats is from disaffected, rejected, and bullied students and former students. What schools believe and how they treat everyone is key.