Book excerpt: The decisions today s students make ripple outward to their immediate family and school community. How can we help students make the right decisions and do the right things? Test preparation and academic rigor alone cannot help our students learn well. Metal detectors and surveillance equipment alone cannot keep schools safe. Learning and safety are inextricably connected to the fundamentals of character and conduct. When we help students make the connection between character and conduct, we begin to offer them a safe environment conducive to learning. In Connecting Character to Conduct, the authors show how to connect character, conduct, and your school s curriculum. By adopting the principles of respect, impulse control, compassion, and equity, the school community including bus drivers, cafeteria workers, students, parents, teachers, and principals can promote safety and learning inside and beyond the school walls. These guiding principles are not an add-on to an already full curriculum. Through their connection to moral development, language arts, systems, citizenship, and discipline, they are part of a standards-driven curriculum and instructional program. The authors, with expertise as classroom teachers, administrators, counselors, and psychologists, show you how students at all grade levels can succeed and learn to do the right things. Our students depend on us to help them learn and stay safe. Their future, and ours, depends on how well we succeed.