Genius School Lauded For Sending Kids To Meditation Instead of Detention - The Results Are Amazing

A school is lauded for sending its students to meditation instead of detention and making it mandatory. 

Reportedly according to CNN, Robert W. Coleman Elementary School in Baltimore, Maryland, established its "Mindful Moment" program in 2016, which involves children being sent to a mindful moment room when they misbehave.

Credit: Mark Mahaney

The students through this program were given the opportunity to stretch, practice yoga, and mindfully meditate. The aim of encouraging this practice is to make the children relax in the face of stressful situations.

The program was initiated in collaboration with the nonprofit organization, The Holistic Life Foundation.

The best part of this meditation center is that the foundation provides a staff member in the room to accommodate the students and help them deal with whatever caused them to misbehave.

For example, one child was sent to the meditation room after getting into a fight with another student.

"I did some deep breathing, had a little snack, and I got myself together," he explained. "Then I apologized to my class."

The importance of this mindful room is emphasized by the fact that many children in the area come from deprived backgrounds, with 25% of Baltimore residents living below the poverty line.

The school's principal, Carlillian Thompson, talking about this amazing program said that some students of the school are homeless and students coming to the school are coming with different home environments and so it is of the utmost importance that the school is a safe, relaxing environment for them.

"I've had a kid come in and look at me straight in the face with no emotions and say, 'my grandfather got shot yesterday'," foundation co-founder Andres Gonzalez said. "So you can imagine what these kids have to face."

Credit: Mark Mahaney

The best part is that the program has started to yield positive results and according to Principal Thompson he now rarely has to speak to students over disciplinary issues.

Patterson High School in East Baltimore is now following on from the elementary school's example and establishing its own program.

It is to point out here that it is not just this school in Baltimore that is helping its students with mindful yoga and meditation but Horace Mann School in Beverly Hills, California, is offering mindfulness, self-awareness, and breathing as detention alternatives, Education Week reports.

Special education teacher Joshua Reitzenstein said:

"We are trying to give a more positive feedback, instead of I’m going to yell at you because you're in trouble and we want you to change your behavior; we are going to say let me give you some skills that you can use on your own, so that you can make your own choices and you can change your behavior."

Credit: Mark Mahaney