VALPARAISO | Valparaiso elementary school students will don purple bracelets the week of Nov. 3 in an effort to be aware of their complaining -- and hopefully to keep it in check.

Students will slip a bracelet over one wrist and move it to the other wrist only when they've uttered a complaint out loud. The goal for each student will be to keep the bracelets on one wrist for three weeks straight.

The silicone wristbands will bear the legend "A Complaint Free World," the name of a national organization that aims to promote more positive interactions between people.

The organization encourages people to change their attitudes rather than complaining when they can't change a situation.

During the year, students will be encouraged to reflect on the effect of complaints, Thomas Jefferson Elementary School Principal Bonnie Stephens said. They will consider which complaints are constructive and which "don't do anyone any good," Stephens said.

The program is this year's initiative of the Creating a Safe School program. CASS aims to create an environment of respect, integrity, empathy and self-accountability in district schools.

Students at Hayes Leonard Elementary School got an early start with their bracelets this week to coordinate with their CASS club meetings. Students talked about what a complaint is and how people can choose to look at a situation in either a negative or a positive light. If students are switching wrists too often, CASS coordinator Traci Coil said, that's the time for them to ask if they need to think before they talk.

The bracelets will be supplied free by A Complaint Free World, which has distributed more than 5 million worldwide, according to its Web site, http://www.acomplaintfreeworld.org.

The program is not a competition, and students -- and staff -- will monitor their own efforts, Stephens said. The idea is to provide an opportunity to think and talk about complaining and how it often doesn't help.