While he was Borough President of Brooklyn in 2019, New York Mayor Eric Adams helped to successfully launch a mindfulness project in East Brooklyn schools with the aim of providing students with avenues to calmness, kindness and higher cognitivity. Later that same year, he had publicly called for meditation training for NY police officers in the wake of a rash of suicides in that department, as well as in view of the upsurge in killings of civilians.
A mindfulness practitioner himself who leads his staff in daily breathing exercises, Adams is currently pushing for the practice to be inculcated in all NY public schools, particularly given the knowledge that the changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the lockdowns, have negatively impacted children’s psyches. Adams is far from a pioneer in advocating mindfulness in schools. In fact, back in 2016, a school in Baltimore, Maryland had swapped out detention for meditation with positive results reported. Moreover, since 2017 at least, schools in Portugal, Sweden and the Netherlands have been including a few minutes of transcendental meditation at the beginning and end of the school day.
In 2018, India announced that it was combatting children’s inability to focus in class with a curriculum addition, a course called ‘Happiness’, which involved meditation, story-telling and other activities that centre on mental health. In 2019, the British government announced a pilot project involving some 370 schools, which would see the students practising mindfulness as part of the curriculum. This step was taken following a survey by the UK’s National Health Service in 2017, which found that one in eight children between the ages of five and 19 years old suffered from at least one mental disorder.
Previously stigmatised in the West because of its links to Buddhism, Hinduism and other Eastern religions, mindfulness, which encompasses breathing techniques, meditation and in some instances yoga, has been rapidly gaining popularity over the years because of its proven effectiveness. There is, however, still some resistance. Nevertheless, mindfulness has, in several cases, successfully replaced medications known to have harmful and lasting side effects.
According to Psychology Today, “The goal of mindfulness is to cultivate perspective on one’s consciousness and identity that can bring greater peace mentally and relationally. …Review studies suggest that mindfulness-based interventions can help reduce anxiety, depression, and pain. To a lesser extent, they can alleviate stress and improve quality of life.”
Given all of the above, and our particular problems, there is surely a case for mindfulness to be introduced in public schools in Guyana. It cannot be disputed that there is a mental health epidemic among our children. For the first half of last year, 19 children between the ages of five and 19 years old took their own lives. Figures for the remainder of the year were not readily available. This month marks a year since a 15-year-old girl ended her life at a secondary school in the city. There have also been countless incidents of what has been termed antisocial behaviour among students, dating back way before the pandemic, this includes but is not limited to disruptive conduct during classes, aggression towards each other as well as to authority figures and a lack of interest in learning. Some of it has been exhibited on social media.
There have been numerous attempts to correct these behaviours, including the dispensing of physical punishment, which adds another set of problems. More recently, the ‘Five for Fun’ initiative, which was launched earlier this month, involves deliberately including sports to provide balance in children’s academic lives. Further, just last week, Education Minister Priya Manickchand began meeting with leaders of the major religions in Guyana to engage their assistance. According to a Ministry of Education press release, the religious leaders would have a presence in schools with the aim of counselling and guiding children as well as help to facilitate ‘Operation Recovery’, which seeks to curb dropouts.
While both strategies would undoubtedly have some impact on the lives of school children, they are limited in terms of inclusiveness. With regard to the first programme, not all children enjoy sports. Those who don’t will not see it as fun; they will dread it and might want to opt out. As regards the second strategy, even with all of the local religions involved, there will be issues owing to denominations and types of worship. In addition, there could be children who are excluded because they have been brought up atheist, agnostic or simply just not religious and therefore must have the option not to participate since Guyana is a secular society.
However, incorporating mindfulness and making the practices available to every child addresses all of the issues mentioned above. It is also cost effective as it requires absolutely nothing to sit still and breathe or meditate. It could be incentivised by giving a score or grade for adherence. Further, teachers could be trained to facilitate these sessions through free online courses or using resources already available in the country or on YouTube. It’s almost a no-brainer that could potentially provide uber benefits.
Countless studies have shown that when children are taught mindfulness several things happen. They develop or build self-esteem, their academic performance improves, they are far less inclined to violence and disruptive behaviours, they stress less and therefore have less anxiety and depression. Of course there will be challenges, those don’t magically disappear, but overcoming them will be less arduous when dealing with children who have better self-control. For a total win-win, in Guyana’s case at least, there could finally be an end to corporal punishment in schools.