If there was one thing that used to put us all off the idea of misbehaving in school, it was the prospect of getting detention. Teachers would give this punishment out freely to anyone who acted out of line and none of us wanted to be the unlucky recipient. Unfortunately, nearly everyone has been through it at some point.
I can remember being put in detention a few times during my school years. The thing is though, I don’t remember learning any lessons from it. On the contrary, the hours spent bored, staring at blank walls just made me angry.
The truth is that detention just doesn’t work.
However, some schools are beginning to see that too. Many of them are trying to find better ways to discipline their pupils. Now, this elementary school has swapped detention with meditation.
Robert W. Coleman Elementary School has decided that punishing their students isn’t the most productive thing that they can do. Instead, they send unruly children to a Mindful Moment Room where they can practice meditation and deep breathing.
Unlike standard detention room, this room is full of decorations, lamps, and pillows.
Meditation isn’t the only thing that this Baltimore school offers its students. Along with that, they also offer an after-school program called Holistic Me. This program gives children from pre-K to 5th grade the chance to practice mindfulness exercises and yoga.
In addition to that, the children are also expected to help out in their local community along with their school. With their teachers, they go to clean up local parks and help out at nearby farms.
Similarly, the teachers show the children how to co-teach a yoga class. In this way, they get the chance to guide other students as well as practicing yoga.
The use of mindfulness isn’t just a theory, however. Robert W. Coleman Elementary School has seen impressive results since they began implementing mindfulness. In fact, they had no suspension last year and so far this year.
This amazing school has proved that the best way to encourage and discipline children is through the use of mindfulness, not with punishments. Instead of detention, they encourage meditation, and the results speak for themselves. It seems that this method may be something that could benefit schools around the country. Likewise, it may even be able to help schools around the world.
Do you think it’s a good idea for schools to practice mindfulness? Share this with your family and friends to find out their opinions too.
