Mental health problems affect around 42% of high school students in the United States. This alarming statistic leads to the question; how are local districts attempting to solve the mental health crisis?
Schools take different approaches to this growing problem. Pleasant Valley and Davenport school districts focus on mindful meditation for their younger students. They are some of the few school districts assigning meditation practices to their students.
Mindfulness is a practice that creates focus and relieves stress. There are many forms of mindfulness and they all attempt to clear the mind of distractions. At Hayes elementary school they teach their students simple forms of mindfulness. “The forms that we practice for students are calming the body down and for exercise,” said teacher Karen Wright. The students participate in a video guided meditation during which they follow a series of movements and breathing exercises.
“The goal for Davenport is for students to regulate their bodies and be aware of how they are feeling,” stated Wright. Teachers aim for students to be self aware of their feelings and have techniques to calm themselves down on their own without parental instruction. This is a strategy that is being tested by many other schools.
Pleasant Valley elementary schools are putting their students through similar techniques to calm their students down after recess. “Breathing in and out helps me concentrate and not get distracted by other people in my class,” said Rory Rashka, a fourth grade student at Forest Grove elementary. The students typically engage in mindfulness practices after recess to be relaxed and less rambunctious. 10-15 minutes of mindfulness puts the students in a focused state of mind and helps them be prepared to learn.
Mindfulness efforts were put into effect to improve the behavior of young students. “We are also observing students getting upset throughout the day or something will set them off and not be able to calm down,” said Wright. In an attempt to calm the students down, the district decided to incorporate mindfulness in the students’ daily schedules. Likewise, Pleasant Valley uses mindfulness to calm their students and help them focus on the tasks at hand.
The effort that the districts put into mental wellness leaves only one pending question. Will these mindfulness activities instilled in young students prove beneficial when they become teenagers and have to deal with mental health issues? If so, should other schools adopt the same practices Pleasant Valley and Davenport have their students partake in every day?
