3 Practical Ways to Implement the Dare to Care Virtual School Program
Building a culture of kindness, belonging, and bullying prevention doesn’t require adding another large block of time to an already busy school day!
All the lessons are ready to use with no preparation. The Dare to Care Virtual School Program is designed to be flexible, making it easy for schools to integrate bullying prevention into existing classroom, small-group, and student-support routines.
Whether you are a classroom teacher, educational assistant, or school counsellor, there are many ways to use the on-demand lessons and follow-up activities to meet the needs of your students.
Here are three practical ways to implement Dare to Care Virtual School in your school.
1. Make It Part of Your Regular Classroom Routine
Implement Dare to Care with your whole class weekly.
If implemented twice a week, completion of the Dare to Care virtual school program would take approximately:
Grade K-2: 3-4 weeks
Grade 3-6: 4-5 weeks
Grade 7-9: 4 weeks
Consistency is one of the keys to creating a positive school culture. Rather than trying to complete the entire program in one sitting, build Dare to Care into your regular classroom routine.
For example, you might use 20–30 minutes on Tuesday and/or Thursday for your Dare to Care lessons. Over time, students have repeated opportunities to learn, practise, and apply bullying-prevention strategies. The goal isn't simply to teach bullying prevention. It's to develop a common language and shared understanding that students can use in real-life situations.
When students regularly hear and practise concepts such as mean moments, conflict, bullying, bystander behaviour, inclusion, and upstander strategies, those concepts become part of the everyday classroom conversation.
2. Use Educational Assistants for Targeted Small-Group Learning
Dare to Care Virtual School can also provide an opportunity for educational assistants to work with smaller groups of students.
Some students benefit from learning in a quieter environment with fewer distractions and more opportunities to talk, ask questions, and practise new skills.
Consider organizing a regular time when an educational assistant can bring a small group of students
Educational assistants can support building comprehension by:
Sharing an age-appropriate Dare to Care lesson.
Pausing the video when students need additional explanation or discussion.
Asking students to connect the lesson to their own experiences.
A small group can provide valuable opportunities for students who may not always participate in whole-class discussions.
The result? Students receive additional opportunities to practise skills while the entire school community continues to work from a common bullying-prevention framework.
3. Create a Small-Group Opportunity with Your School Counselor
School counselors can use Dare to Care Virtual School as a springboard for meaningful conversations with students.
Instead of counselling students one-on-one, counsellors can invite a small group of students to participate in a Dare to Care lesson together.
This could be particularly useful when a group of students is working on topics such as:
Building positive friendships
Responding to conflict
Recognizing bullying behaviour & cyberbullying
The counsellor can share a lesson and then use the remaining time for conversation, reflection, and sharing. For example, after watching a lesson about being part of the Caring Majority, the counsellor might ask:
“What makes it difficult to speak up when you see someone being treated unfairly?”
Students can share their ideas, listen to different perspectives, and explore strategies they could use in their own school community. It also gives the counsellor an opportunity to identify areas where students may need additional support or practice.
Make Dare to Care Part of Your School Culture
One of the greatest benefits of a virtual program is flexibility. You don't have to deliver every lesson in exactly the same way or at the same time.
A classroom teacher might use Dare to Care twice a week with the whole class. An educational assistant might reinforce the same concepts with a small group. A school counsellor might use a lesson as the starting point for a deeper conversation with students.
Different adults. Different settings. One common language.
When students hear consistent messages about kindness, inclusion, belonging, respectful relationships, and bullying prevention across different parts of their school day, the learning becomes more meaningful.
