Should mindfulness meditation be taught in school?

In school, teachers keep reminding students to pay attention in class. It is easy to say, but it is definitely not an easy task for many students. It is like asking a physically weak person to do 100 push-ups in a role. Why? Because these students have not been trained to focus. Their mind takes their focus away, either into their past, or to their imaginary future, and sometimes they themselves are not aware of this. Learning to stay focused is somehow the same as doing push-ups. It needs to be trained and build up slowly, and one of the best methods to train focus is to practice mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness meditation is the practice of intentionally focusing on something at present without judgment. Regular practice of mindfulness can help to improve students’ concentration in class. When students are able to pay attention in class for a longer period, surely their learning process will be much easier and more efficient. Weare (2012) once stated that “practising mindfulness increases cognitive function, mental, emotional and physical health. ” On the other hand, it is understood that a teacher’s job is extremely stressful and exhausting. They have to manage their students in order to ensure they are well-behaved. Other than classroom management, teachers also have to prepare their teaching materials and plan their lessons before school starts, which is not easy as they have to figure out the best way to deliver new concepts to their students. After school, teachers have to deal with tons of paperwork, which increases their stress level. Therefore, practising mindfulness meditation is also important for teachers as it helps teachers to deal with work stress. According to Black, Milam, & Sussman (2009), classroom mindfulness is gaining popularity and is gaining mainstream acceptance worldwide as a means to improve both teachers’ and students’ well-being. Implementing mindfulness meditation into schools provides myriad benefits to both teachers and students as it helps students to perform better academically, helps both students and teachers to improve well-being and cultivates positive attitude and emotions. First and foremost, practising mindfulness meditation could improve students’ academic performance. As practising mindfulness meditation improves one’s alertness, students who consistently practice it will be able to be mindful of their thoughts and therefore they are aware when irrelevant thoughts are ‘invading’ their mind and terminate them. According to Koch (2016), mindfulness is a form of exercise that strengthens one’s ability to stay focused. While improving students’ ability to stay focused, practising mindfulness meditation also improves students’ cognitive ability. As McGreevey (2011) once pointed out an experiment where “participants who meditate 27 minutes each day, have an increase in grey-matter density in the hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with learning and memory. ” She then further pointing out that “experienced meditators have a thicker area of the cerebral cortex which associates with emotional integration and attention, as compared to those who have never meditated. ” Practising mindfulness meditation could enhance students’ self-control. Nauman once mentioned that “people who practice mindfulness meditation are able to instantly realise their negative thoughts and unbound with them. ” Peterson also indicated that “practising mindfulness meditation increases the activity of the prefrontal cortex, which is the region of the brain that is important for self-control. ” Moreover, practising mindfulness meditation improves the well-being of both the students and the teachers. Studies have shown that students and teachers who participated in a mindfulness meditation program have shown a significant reduction in their stress level and psychological disorder. Chen, Erengue, and Gryffin (2014) reported that “college students who completed a meditation program, shown significantly lower anxiety and psychological distress in comparison with the control group. ” Davis and Hayes (2011) reported that “Mindfulness meditation increases the activity of the brain region associated with responding adaptively to stress and negative situations. ” Apart from that, practising mindfulness meditation could improve one’s social skill. Davis and Hayes (2011) have discovered that “After 8 weeks of MBSR training, participants with social anxiety disorder demonstrated a significantly lower level of negative emotion and a decrease in amygdala activity, which is the part of the brain associated with emotions and fear. ” Most importantly, practising mindfulness meditation makes people happier. This is because practising mindfulness meditation enhances one’s ability to notice their negative thoughts and disengage with them. The other reason is that meditators learn to seek their happiness from internal peacefulness. According to Bialylew (2015), “most people have their happiness controlled by an external stimulus, which we do not have control over them. However, practising mindfulness meditation help practitioners to nurture a feeling of inner well-being, which makes them feel satisfied without getting anything externally. ” Furthermore, practising mindfulness meditation helps people to cultivate positive attitude and emotions. It is easier for people who practice mindfulness meditation to overcome their bad habits and addictions as being more mindful enables them to realise the consequences of their actions. As Yip (2017) once said, “Being mindful allows people to recognize their blind spots and understand the way they repeat the same bad habit. ” Yip (2017) pointed out that “mindfulness meditation is twice as effective as the ‘Freedom From Smoking’ program, a program which has been regarded as the gold standard for quitting smoking. ” Besides that, practising mindfulness meditation helps to cultivate empathy among the students and teachers. Empathy is the ability to understand and feel other’s emotions. As a piece of evidence, Davis and Hayes (2011) indicated that “medical students and counsellor therapists have shown an increase in empathy level after participating in 4 weeks of the mindfulness meditation program. ” In addition, mindfulness meditation helps to cultivate compassion. Compassion is the desire to help people to get out of their difficult state. This is especially important for teachers as their job is to help students who encounter any difficulty. Davis and Hayes (2011) explained that “the two elements of mindfulness, non-judging and non-reacting, are strongly associated with compassion and empathy. ” Apart from that, Davis and Hayes (2011) have also given a piece of evidence that “healthcare professionals have demonstrated an increase in compassion level after MBSR training. ” In conclusion, numerous studies have proven the positive effects of mindfulness meditation in the past few decades. Hence, schools should adopt mindfulness meditation as a part of the school’s curriculum as it provides plenty of benefits to both teachers and students. It also helps to solve many problems in school, for instance, violence and abuse. Implementing mindfulness meditation into schools provides myriad benefits to both teachers and students as it helps students to perform better academically; helps both students and teachers to improve well-being and cultivates positive attitude and emotions.