This School Replaced Detention With Meditation And The Results Are Amazing

When any of the children at Robert W. Coleman Elementary School in West Baltimore act out, chances are they won’t be sent to the principal’s office but to the Mindful Moment room, a soothing space with comfortable pillows and bean bags, illuminated by glowing lamps. pink Himalayan salt lamps.

It is part of the Mindful Moment program Holistic Living Foundation
, a nonprofit founded in 2001 by brothers Atman and Ali Smith, who grew up in the neighborhood, and their friend Andres Gonzalez. Longtime meditators, they wanted to give children better tools to deal with stress and anger in this low-income, high-crime neighborhood that was the epicenter of the riots that followed the death of Freddie Gray in police custody. They started teaching mindfulness, first at another elementary school and then at a local YMCA.

Thanks to their efforts, the day at Coleman Elementary School now starts with a breathing exercise over the PA system and ends with an after-school program where students can learn yoga and meditation, in addition to sports and tutoring. Throughout the day, staff guide students through breathing and other centering exercises in the Mindful Moment room.

It functions. In the 2013-2014 school year, Coleman received zero suspensions.

The goal is to give children tools for dealing with trauma, anger and stress. The school includes breathing exercises in the morning announcements and yoga in the after-school program.

The use of meditation and yoga in schools is part of a trend in education often referred to as ‘whole child’ or ‘social emotional learning’. The idea is to address the social and emotional factors that prevent children from sitting quietly to write or doing well on a math quiz.

It is part of a movement away from “zero tolerance” discipline practices, which often lead to children being kicked out of classrooms, toward “restorative justice” practices that emphasize repairing relationships and keeping students in an academic environment.

The meditation rooms look nothing like your standard windowless detention room. Instead, it is filled with lamps, decorations and soft purple cushions. Children who are misbehaving are encouraged to sit in the room and do exercises such as breathing or meditation, which can help them calm down and regain focus. They are also asked to tell what happened.

Inside the room, students who are misbehaving are guided to sit, breathe, and meditate to calm down and re-center. They are also advised to be open about what happened.
“It is astonishing. You wouldn’t think that little children would meditate in silence. And they do.”

Other schools are also implementing such practices. In Great Britain the Mindfulness in schools project teaches adults how to set up programs. And in the US, Conscious schools
another nonprofit, is trying to do the same.

It is a pleasant breakthrough for students, teachers and parents alike, as the forces of life are actualized in the present.

The kids might even take that mindfulness home with them.

In the August 2016 issue of Oprah Magazine
Andres Gonzalez, co-founder of the Holistic Life Foundation, said, “Parents told us, ‘I came home stressed the other day and my daughter said, ‘Hey mom, you need to sit down. I have to teach you how to breathe.”

Hopefully this trend will continue and meditation and mindfulness will become the norm in schools around the world. As the Dalia Lama said optimistically.

“If every 8-year-old in the world learns meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world in one generation.”