Transportation, Clean Clothes, and Bullying

Our group's winning brainstorm idea! 

On Friday night, we (100state + UnitedWay of Dane County) threw a Gathering for Good where we brainstormed ways to eliminate the key barriers to kids getting to school.

A main reason kids don’t do well in school is that they aren’t there. This makes a lot of sense.

But the reasons kids aren’t at school came as a pretty big surprise to me.

They are:

• Transportation
• Clean Clothes
• Bullying

The top reasons kids aren’t in school are that they simply can’t get there, they don’t have clean clothes to wear, or they fear being bullied.

Some clearly identified reasons, but a complicated problem to solve.

The good news is that a bunch of people are trying – and there are ways to get involved.

The United Way recently launched its Here! Campaign to create community awareness about the importance of regular school attendance.  The great thing about the campaign is that it focuses on community – as education is a community issue, not just an issue for parents with kids in school. Education makes our communities stronger, and the kids in school today are our next generation of leaders.

The challenge is that we still have a long way to go before we get to the point where all kids, throughout our city and throughout cities across the country, can consistently get to school and get a great education.

Interested in getting involved? Check out the volunteer section on the United Way website here, or consider getting something organized in your neighborhood – a clothing drive, a car pool, or a neighborhood mentoring program aimed at preventing bullying before it begins.