At a time of deepening divisions in the United States, a new campaign to spread kindness, empathy, and equity sponsored by the Harvard Graduate School of Education launched in middle and high schools around the country.

More than 130 schools in 28 states and 14 countries have signed on to participate in the Caring Schools #CommonGood campaign by taking concrete steps to deepen students’ care for others, increase equity in the college admissions process, and decrease “excessive achievement pressure” in places where it is high.

“I think it’s a call to all of us to think about how we can prepare the next generation to build bridges and mend some of these fractures and to preserve and advance democracy. … I don’t think we’ve done a good job of this over the last decade, and I think … part of what we’re seeing now is the results of our failure.” said the director of the project, Richard Weissbourd, a developmental psychologist at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Read the full article about encouraging empathy in the classroom by Laura Fay at The 74.