A school in Ohio is doing away with detention punishment and giving students mindfulness and yoga classes instead.
We think that every parent can pretty much agree that there really isn’t anything beneficial to detention.
While the thought of being punished works well for some children, for others, it’s looked at as free time during the day or after school.
And we can’t forget to mention that it ends up disrupting their paren’s schedules whenever they need to pick them up after school instead of taking the bus.
And what do kids learn during after school detention? While they might walk away getting a head start on their homework, the lessons learned during after school detention is pretty much zip.
A school in Ohio is setting out to change that and we think that all schools should follow suit.
Good News Network reported that, high school principal, Jack Hatert, of Yellow Springs High, along with nearby Mckinney Middle school, are working on alternate detention classes.
This would include both mindfulness practice led by an expert and yoga.
Each Monday for 30 minutes before the end of their class, the students can sit down on a blanket in Donna Haller’s second-floor classroom and take time to focus on their emotions, be present, and have an allover quiet moment.
Basically, they will walk away from detention with some coping mechanisms for dealing with their big emotions that might have gotten them there in the first place. Talk about being proactive. Bravo!
This is part of a statewide education initiative that is working to encourage teachers to offer this mindfulness training more regularly to students.
The program is called “Each Child, Our Future,” and the goal of it is to address the mental health epidemic currently happening in the United States and raise capable, well rounded young people.
These mindfulness classes are also accompanied by a yoga option as well, which is held every Wednesday in their library.
Led by Donna Haller, a certified yoga and meditation instructor for both adults and youth of all ages, who has been at this specific high school for nine years.
She shared with the Yellow Springs News, “I love it. It does as much for me as them,” she said of the calming effects.
“Someone I know said that mindfulness and yoga have helped them with their ADHD and with processing an event where they had lost someone who was dear to them,” wrote freshman Isabella Beiring for a video project about the mindfulness and yoga program.
What an amazing way for kids to end their day!
Source: Moms.com
