Mindful Kids, Peaceful Schools
With eyes closed and deep breaths, students are learning a new method to reduce anxiety, conflict, and attention disorders. But don’t call it meditation.
— By Jill Suttie
At Toluca Lake elementary school in Los Angeles, a cyclone fence encloses the asphalt blacktop, which is teeming with kids. It’s recess time and the kids, who are mostly 
Latino, are playing tag, yelling, throwing balls, and jumping rope. When the bell rings, they reluctantly stop and head back to their classrooms except for Daniel Murphy’s second grade class.
Murphy’s students file into the school auditorium, each carrying a round blue pillow decorated with white stars. They enter giggling and chatting, but soon they are seated in a circle on their cushions, eyes closed, quiet and concentrating. Two teachers give the children instructions on how to pay attention to their breathing, telling them to notice the rise and fall of their bellies and chests, the passage of air in and out of their noses. Though the room is chilly the heating system broke down earlier that day the children appear comfortable, many with Mona Lisa smiles on their faces.
“What did you notice about your breath this morning?” one teacher asks.
“Mine was like a dragon,” says Michael, a child to the teacher’s right. Albert, another child, adds, “Yeah, I could see mine. It was like smoke.”
The teachers lead the children through 45 minutes of exercises focused on breathing, listening, movement, and reflection. At different points, the kids are asked to gauge their feelings calm, neutral, or restless. There are no right or wrong answers, just observation. The session ends with the children lying quietly on their backs, stuffed animals rising and falling on their stomachs, as they contemplate peace within themselves and in their community. Later, seven–year–old Emily sums up her experience. “I like the class because it makes me calm and soft inside. It makes me feel good.”
Toluca Lake is one of a growing number of schools that are using “mindfulness trainings” in an effort to combat increasing levels of anxiety, social conflict, and attention disorder among children. Once a week for 10 to 12 weeks, the students at Toluca take time out from their normal curriculum to learn techniques that draw on the Buddhist meditative practice of mindfulness, which is meant to promote greater awareness of one’s self and one’s environment. According to mindfulness educator Susan Kaiser, bringing this practice into schools is “really about teaching kids how to be in a state of attention, where they can perceive thoughts, physical sensations, and emotions without judgment and with curiosity and an open state of mind.”
That such an unconventional practice with its roots in a religious tradition, no less has made its way into public schools may come as a surprise to many people. But schools 
have been turning to mindfulness for very practical reasons that don’t concern religion, and their efforts have been supported by a recent wave of scientific results.
Steve Reidman first introduced mindfulness practices to Toluca Lake about six years ago. Reidman, a fourth grade teacher at the school, had been experiencing problems with classroom management first for him, after many years of teaching. Conflicts on the playground were escalating and affecting his students’ ability to settle down and concentrate in class. When he confided his problems to Kaiser, a personal friend, she offered to come to his class to teach mindfulness, a technique she’d taught to kids as a volunteer at a local boys and girls club.
“I noticed a difference right away,” says Reidman. “There was less conflict on the playground, less test anxiety just the way the kids walked into the classroom was different. Our state test scores also went up that year, which I’d like to attribute to my teaching but I think had more to do with the breathing they did right before they took the test.”
I must say that starting with the younger generation is the way to go!
When I was a kid, I was diagnosed as manic depressive. 20 years ago, that meant “crazy” or “disturbed”. The stigma of that diagnosis affected me from middle school through college. Only after college when I stumbled onto Meditation did I overcome what the medicines could not. Meditation really, really works and it’s NEVER too late to start.
Hello Alex and Joel, you are both right: never too early, never too late!
Performance Anxiety, for me has caused me to perform poorly on timed test and musical auditions. I use the techniques of motion meditation of Internal Energy Plus and have found that I can perform exactly how I have practiced!!!
Hello Thomas, indeed, performance anxiety is one of the most important areas where good emotional self-regulation is critical. Glad to hear you have found the way to perform at the level that you can!
I wished they did this when i was a kid…teaching the kids to be more relaxed is so important..
Hello Alvaro,
this is a great article, I’d love to link to it and write a couple of paragraphs about meditation in school on my blog ‘Something is Wrong’, a blog writing about the next generation, the education system and media influences.
Let me know if you are interested! Keep up the good work!
Hello Julia, of course, blog about the topic and this article, and please link back to SharpBrains and to the Greater Good Magazine-your readers will enjoy both!
There is nothing better that could be given to anyone, much less kids.
Many blessings,
CG
I think what these people are doing is worth a nobel prize in peace making, education and health. When owerall programm success results will be obtained it will be seen clearly. They are creating healthy future society with no psychologic-mental problems… good luck to them..
This is a great idea, they need this in every school. I wish I would have had this forced on me as a child.
OK. I am sold. I teach 6th grade and am always looking for an edge to overcome test anxiety. Where can I get more information about mindful awareness?
brilliant. this has been my vision: for children everywhere to learn meditation in school. the future would be so much better
John, I agree. Schools, as places for learning, could do a better job at developing important mental skills such as attention and emotional self-regulation, and meditation can be a great tool for that.
Hello!
I am 19 years old and I am also from Romania. I like to state that the important things are: to know yourself (Socrates), to know what you want, to know your limits and to push them further. Therefore education in my opinion should always help a person know the rules of the game based upon the view of the society and the individual abilities.
I hope I got it all right…as well as I hope to read something new soon!
Thanks for the informative post.. and thanks for adding our comment to the blog. I am subscribing to your feed so I don\‘t miss the next post!
I love your article. I am an independent fitness instructor in Brookings, Oregon. I specialize in stress reduction training. I give two free classes a month at the library, I’m giving classes at the community college, and I’m now working with teachers to implement an after-school stress reduction training program for the Brookings-Harbor School District. I will give two classes a week for all teachers, students, and support staff. I see this as a ministry of service, so I do not charge for my services. I depend on the financial kindness of the community. My background is Tai Chi, Chi Kung, and Hatha Yoga (since the 70s). But.…. I do not teach those practices, nor do I teach meditation. Rather, I use their foundations to focus strictly on a simple technique of stress reduction that can be used anywhere, anytime, under any situation standing or sitting. And, those who have learned this simple technique can train those around them. Once I have the school program in force, I intend to help the City staff, including the police department and the fire department. Simply put, Brookings is my model of success. From here, I shall go nationwide. Yes, it’s time we take care of our own, especially our children. Want to know more? Talk to Kurt Nadar or Charles Kocher, publisher of the Curry Coastal Pilot, the local newspaper (541–469-3124). Michael J. D’Angelo
I need to correct an error in my previous comments. The contact name is Kurt Madar — not Nadar. A thousand apologies Kurt. Also, my challenge is in finding funding. I appreciate any help in directing me. Thank you all so kindly. Michael J. D’Angelo
In reference to Michael J. D’Angelo’s comment, I am freelance grant writer that enjoys writing proposals for others. I am interested in learning more about your program and perhaps finding funding. Please contact me at tachundasb@aol.com with more information.
I’d like to bring up such a program at my son’s private school. Is there a certain organization that the Toluca Lake School used? I’m also in the SFV and interested in kid yoga classes and meditations on a private basis. I’ve tried to google it and had trouble. Is there a list of close Valley places to go? After school and Sat?
What a fantastic story!
I’ve just written a post on how we need to remember the value of interacting with friends — a simple as sharing a meal, or chatting on the phone — as well as the huge value of making sure to laugh daily as a stress management technique.
Yoga, of course, is hugely effective, and high on my list. But who would have thought of training kids this young!
I’m blown away!!
well, my childs school began this program and i am not happy. with buddhism as the basis for the progam and time carved out for this, acedemics suffers! let me teach OUR religious preferance at home! seems good on the surface, dig a bit deeper…how about using the Bible to meditate on?!
Dear Jean, meditation is, at this point, a perfectly secular practice, like, say, yoga. Several types of prayer also resemble the practice of meditation… so please don’t get attached to artificial labels, but simply see if this helps your kid or not, which is what matters!
Thank you for sharing your view.
Dear Jean,
Thank you for this very interesting post. I think it’s great that teachers are bringing mindfulness into schools. It clearly helps children achieve their best, and it’s too bad that some parents are scared off by it.
What do you think of teaching yoga as part of gym classes? It has a many of the elements of mindfulness, but is also good for strength and flexibility.
jean, fwiw, Buddhism isn’t a religion, although some of its trappings give it the appearance of a religion. At its, core it’s not God/faith centric and does not focus on scripture. Meditation practices taken from Buddhism are essentially secular.