Medical researchers in the US and Canada independently found that “perceived school connectedness” (feeling connected to your teachers and attached to your school) protects adolescents from every health risk they measured except pregnancy.

Good teachers: they save lives every day.

RESNICK, M.D., BEARMAN, P.S., BLUM, R.W., BAUMAN, K.E., HARRIS, K.M., JONES, J., et al. (1997). Protecting adolescents from harm: Findings from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 278, 823–832.

SPROTT, J.B., JENKINS, J.M., & DOOB, A.N. (2000). Early offending: Understanding the risk and protective factors of delinquency. Ottawa, ON: Applied Research Branch Strategic Policy Human Resources Development Canada.

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Steve VanderStaay is Professor of English and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at Western Washington University. An educational scholar, he has published research on effective teachers, high-achieving students of color, research methods, and the shaping influence of literacy and schooling upon public health and crime prevention. VanderStaay taught high school in urban, rural and bilingual settings before earning his Ph. D.