When is Virginia Kindness Week?
Schools can promote and foster kindness all school year. However, each year in Virginia we have celebrated kindness week during the second week in February.
What is Virginia Kindness Week?
The purpose of Kindness Week is to recognize that simple day-to-day acts of kindness enable our schools, communities, and state to be a kinder, safer, healthier, and more inclusive place to live, work, learn, and play.
Why Kindness?
Kindness helps us to form meaningful connections with others, which are reported to be a strong factor in increasing happiness. Kindness has been proven to boost serotonin, reduce stress, increase positive affect, and release endorphins and the hormone oxytocin in numerous scientific studies.
Teaching and recognizing kindness in schools and communities fosters empathy, builds community, reduces bullying, and nurtures a safe and welcoming environment (Currie, 2015).
By promoting kindness, we are promoting inclusivity by extending an opportunity for grace, empathy, dignity, and acceptance across Virginia (Layous , Nelson,Oberle, Schonert-Reichl, Lyubomirsky, 2012).
Want to learn more? Making the Case for Kindness explains how kindness can help address some challenges schools are currently facing.