A school administrator once asked me on a phone call, “So, are you telling me you can change our school culture in 45 minutes?” I knew, by the way he asked the question, that he was expecting me to say yes. Instead, I responded, “Heck no! There’s no way I can change your culture in 45 minutes. I’m not Jesus. I’m just a ginger.” He laughed.
The reason schools bring me in is because I have a way of teaching skills in a new way that is memorable and effective. The reason my message has received two international awards for excellence and effectiveness is simple. I help people Rethink Bullying® and shift their mindset, which is often the barrier to trying a new approach. Once this barrier is broken, kids and grownups learn new skills and they never see aggression the same way again. Finally, I show them how to practically apply those skills through fun role-playing games that make them not only easy to learn but fun to practice. As a result, they are empowered.
That can be incredibly powerful, but it isn’t instantaneous change.
A Great Assembly Starts the Conversation
During my student assembly programs, the audience isn’t simply hearing another lecture about why bullying is bad. I’m not telling to “report every incident of mean behavior. After all, that leads to a mile-long line outside of the counseling. Kids now how to report problems. What they need to learn is how to solve problems. Simply social SQUABBLES® often don’t require adult intervention in order to be solved.
During the assembly, they see practical conflict-resolution skills modeled right in front of them onstage. Using random volunteers from the audience, I ask students to “bully me” and then diffuse their aggressive insults in seconds using the skills that I just taught. This is the momemnt when it clicks and the light bulb goes off. It quickly goes from “he can do this” to “I can do this”.
This is what a great event can do extremely well – empowerment. It can ignite a fire, shift a mindset, and start conversations throughout the building. Students and staff leave with common language, memorable examples, and practical skills they can begin using immediately.
The assembly is the spark that ignite positive change. Follow-up is what fans the flames and keeps that message going – and growing, over time.
Consistency Is the Key to Behavioral Change
Since the day we opened the company, we’ve offered follow-up materials that schools can use after an assembly to reinforce the message. There’s a simple reason for that: consistency is the key to behavioral change. You don’t learn a skill once and master it; you practice it, receive feedback, and continue using it until the response becomes more natural.
That’s true in athletics, music, academics, and resilience education. It’s also consistent with research on bullying prevention. The American Psychological Association’s review of decades of research notes that prevention efforts need to be sustained and integrated in order to create change. You can read the APA research summary here.
That’s why I don’t believe a one-and-done assembly should be your entire strategy. A great presentation is a starting point, not the finish line.
Students Need Opportunities to Practice
Role-playing is one of the most important parts of what I do because students need the opportunity to rehearse a response before they’re expected to use it under pressure. Through practice, they can try a skill in a safe environment, receive coaching and feedback, laugh at mistakes, and try again. This makes the learning experience memorable while building confidence.
Research supports this emphasis on practice. A meta-analysis of 95 adolescent aggression intervention studies found behavioral practice and problem-solving among the components associated with more effective interventions for general student populations.
Knowing the right answer isn’t the same as being able to use it when your emotions are running high. An assembly gives me the opportunity to model the process with the entire school, while teachers, counselors, and other trained grown-ups can continue reinforcing and practicing those skills afterward.
Follow-Up Looks Different for Every School
Reinforcing skills looks different for every school, which is why I prefer a needs-based approach. What problems are actually happening in your building? What aggressive behaviors are students experiencing? Where are students struggling, what are teachers and counselors seeing, and what continues to land in the principal’s office?
Rather than assuming what the problem is, schools should use data to identify areas of weakness and focus prevention, intervention, and response strategies where they matter most. Some schools simply need ongoing classroom reinforcement. Others need staff professional development, structured counselor interventions, or a more comprehensive Schoolwide strategy.
That’s also why I developed comprehensive multi-year programming rather than expecting one event to carry the entire load. The approach allows schools to reinforce skills over multiple years, use assessment to identify needs, and continue training so that implementation becomes part of the culture rather than another program that comes and goes.
Give Everyone the Same Language
Consistency also means making sure the adults are saying the same thing. When different staff members use different messaging, it sends a mixed message, often causing confusion and reducing efficiency and effectiveness across the board. Adopting a simple intervention framework provides unity, efficiency, and consistency, allowing problems to be more quickly addressed and solved.
Students shouldn’t learn one approach during an assembly, hear something completely different from their teacher, and then receive a third message when they reach the counselor or principal. A common framework makes it easier for everyone to know what to do next, whether the person responding is a classroom teacher, counselor, administrator, student, or parent.
That’s when an assembly becomes more than an event. It becomes the kickoff to a common approach.
The Assembly Is the Spark
An assembly can shift a mindset, teach new skills, give an entire building common language, and get people excited about trying something different. What it cannot do is practice those skills with every student every week for the rest of the school year.
That’s where your team and your follow-up plan come in. My job is to strike the match; consistent reinforcement is what keeps the fire burning.
If you’re looking for more than a one-and-done event, explore my multi-year bullying prevention and resilience education programming or review my student presentation options. We can use the event to begin the conversation and then give your team the resources to keep it going.
