Our colleagues at Committee for Children have identified three immediate opportunities to advocate for policy that promotes SEL across the country:
The digital world is a part of everyday life for young people, shaping how they learn, connect, and grow. However, while legislation around social media and digital access is rapidly evolving, it often overlooks a critical element: the opportunity to build essential social-emotional skills that promote safety, empathy, and responsible behavior online and offline.
Social-emotional skills like critical thinking, self-regulation, and empathy are foundational to fostering well-being in a digital age. They help young people navigate online spaces, resist misinformation, and build positive relationships—all crucial for their school, work, and life success.
This is why we’re urging lawmakers to include provisions for building social-emotional skills in upcoming legislation. Take 1 minute to support this vital work by sending a quick note to your lawmakers. We’ve provided a prewritten message to make it easy for you to act. You can also personalize the message to share your perspective—it’s one of the most impactful ways to make your voice heard.
Click to send your message now and help create a safer, more supportive digital world for all students.
H.B. 2093, which recently passed the Arizona House of Representatives, would repeal Arizona’s requirement that public schools include social and emotional learning instruction as part of health education. As written, the bill would gut a bipartisan law that ensures students receive age-appropriate instruction that helps them identify emotions, regulate behavior, build healthy relationships, and seek help when needed.
Social and emotional instruction provides foundational skills that help students focus in class, resolve conflict, manage stress, and engage productively in school. Social and emotional learning helps cultivate these skills, which research consistently shows improve academic outcomes, strengthen classroom behavior, reduce disciplinary incidents, and support long-term workforce readiness. Importantly, they are linked to reducing youth suicidality. Rather than improving academic achievement, removing this requirement risks creating inconsistency across districts and reduces access to essential student supports, particularly for students who may not have access to them elsewhere.
Please contact your Arizona Senators and urge them to oppose H.B. 2093 to ensure schools can continue supporting the full development of students through education.