The recent study discovered that practicing mindfulness could have a positive impact on children’s mental health and potentially improve their academic performance.
All interventions included at least two mindfulness components, such as body sensation awareness and breathing awareness. The researchers identified 24 interventions, with three programs—Learning to BREATHE, Mindfulness in School Project, and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)—being rated as highly impactful.
These interventions mainly targeted middle and high school students, indicating significant effectiveness for older age groups.
Three other programs—Gaia Program, MindUP, and a blend of MBSR and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy—received a moderate rating for their helpfulness among children.
Overall, mindfulness training was linked to several benefits, including reduced tension, enhanced resilience, and clearer thinking.
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According to the review, these programs led to significant improvements in emotional awareness, clarity, and reductions in self-hostility, depressive symptoms, avoidance, and rumination.
This study comes at a time when several states are contemplating changes in how schools address behavioral issues.
Instead of suspending disruptive students, the bill suggests referring them to social workers, child psychologists, or anger management programs. Severe cases like bullying or violence could still lead to suspensions, while incidents involving racism would require additional interventions.
On the other hand, Louisiana and Alabama have enacted laws empowering teachers to send disruptive students to the principal’s office for discipline, ensuring administrative support for educators.
Aaron Gifford contributed to this report.
