Communication Guides -- Zero Tolerance Policy

The Lowell PTSA works with the school, students and families to create a safe and inclusive environment that allows every community member to fully participate, and that ensures all community members feel valued and respected. Understanding that our community has members with diverse experiences and opinions, the PTSA acknowledges the importance of establishing a space that allows safe, respectful and inclusive group dialogue. We understand safe, respectful and inclusive group dialogue to mean we celebrate diversity and difference and have zero tolerance for discriminatory language or actions. In creating such a space, the PTSA adheres to the following guidelines.

• practice being an "upstander" and to speak up if you feel that someone is using discriminatory language or exhibiting discriminatory behavior;
• be an active listener by fully concentrating on what is being said;
• respect each other and points of view that may be different from our own;
• welcome the opportunity to learn that comes from challenging our assumptions;
• listen to understand (as opposed to listen to respond);
• speak from our own experience instead of generalizing ("I" instead of "they," "we," and "you")
• accept a speaker’s viewpoint as true for him or her;
• be mindful of the impact of our actions and words;
• work through conflict to its resolution as a catalyst for deeper learning;
• be a part of creating solutions; and
• be kind to one another.