Share these Ten Ways to be a Great Classmate with your kids and have them concentrate on one a week for the next 10 weeks.
Be a friend to everyone in your class, not just the popular kids.
Invite the kids who are consistently left out of activities to play with you or walk with you between classes, especially the poor kids or kids who represent a racial minority in your school. Never let anyone eat alone at lunch (especially the geeks). Invite them to eat with you. If you are part of the popular crowd, insist on these other kids being a part of it too. If the popular kids reject you for it, so be it.
Be pleasant to everyone, especially your teacher. Smile, look people in the eye, call them by name, and be interested in them as individuals.
Don’t allow yourself to be drawn into antagonism against your teacher—whether in the classroom or elsewhere. Refuse the peer pressure to be disruptive, regardless of whether your teacher is asking for it.
Never allow yourself to be drawn into a group conspiracy against your teacher. Whether it’s fellow students or their parents, deal with any problem you have with yourteacher individually. Avoid any attempt by the class or their parents to gang up on a teacher regarding an issue.
Help students who may be struggling to connect to the class or figure out the subject. As much as possible, do whatever you can to raise the emotional and intellectual stock value of the entire classroom.
Don’t hog discussions, show off your intellect, or critique fellow students’ answers in such a way as to embarrass them.
When you go to bed at night, pray for your teacher and fellow students who may be struggling.
Be an enthusiastic participant in the greater school activities. Cheer on and encourage your teams, applaud the kids that gain recognition for their great efforts, and always speak well of your school.
Recognize that there are some kids around you who are either extremely afraid or are having to process some heavy burden (problems at home, the divorce of the parents, a mom or dad who is sick, a sibling who is struggling). Ask God to give you a keen sense of who these kids are, and make it your aim to encourage them every day.
