Detention is a concept that is present almost every school and is definitely something students actively try to avoid.
Whether it entails sitting in a quiet room with other offenders, working on your homework, or doing whatever annoying chore that was made up as your punishment, detention is definitely not a good time.
Some school's get particularly and cruelly creative with their detention punishments, like this school that made a student sit alone around a detention partition.
But Robert W. Coleman Elementary School has been using an alternative method on its misbehaving kids.
Rather that serving time in detention, the kids are sent to a quiet room where they sit on the floor, relax their mind, and meditate.
This school's meditation-heavy programming is teaching its students how to breath through their problems, whether they are stressed, antsy, or angry.
And they are having amazing results so far. Check below to learn more about the Mindful Moment Room and how well it is working.
[H/T: Uproxx]
Detention, back in the day, meant stewing angrily in a quiet classroom while doing homework or busywork with other kids who have misbehaved.
But for Baltimore’s Robert W. Coleman Elementary School, detention means sitting down in a quiet, fabric-draped room, closing your eyes and meditating while you focus on your breath.
This cool concept is called the Mindful Moment Room, and it is there to help students breath calmly, relax, and center themselves before coming back to the classroom.
It was created with the help of Holistic Life Foundation, a nonprofit that helps create wellness programs for children and adults in underserved communities.
Misbehaving kids aren't the only ones that get to meditate in the room.
Students who are stressed about a test, tired, or feeling a little ill can also have a little time in there.
During the twenty-minute sessions, they spend a little time chatting with mindfulness instructors, then practicing yoga or breathing exercises.
Though quite untraditional, these mindfulness methods are making kids approach stressful situations more calmly.
“Sometimes if they [other kids] say something [to make me mad] sometimes I might say something back but sometimes I just focus on it and I just breathe…I just walked away [when something stressful happened]. I walked away and kept on breathing in and out, and then I came back,” explains a child on Holistic Life Foundation's website.
It is also seems to be helping everyone's overall behavior at the school.
Since beginning the Mindful Moment Room policy, the school hasn't had to give out a single suspension.
When they're not in class, students can also take advantage of Holistic Life Foundation's after-school yoga classes, park clean ups, and community gardens.
They can even volunteer to help run a few of the yoga sessions.
The wonder of these relaxing initiatives is slowly growing, with nonprofits like the Mindfulness in Schools Project and Mindful Schools spreading the awesome idea that breathing techniques, meditation, and yoga can make a huge impact in the classroom.
If taking a few big deep breaths helps you feel better, make sure to SHARE with friends and family on Facebook.
