REX, Ga. — The third-graders at Roberta T. Smith Elementary School had just a few days until summer break and an hour until lunch, but they had no trouble focusing when they walked into class. They were ready for one of their favorite parts of the day.
The children closed their eyes and moved their thumbs from their foreheads to their hearts as a pre-recorded voice guided them through an exercise called the shark fin, part of the classroom’s regular meditation routine.
“Listen to the bells,” said the teacher, Kim Franklin. “Remember to breathe.”
Schools across the US have introduced yoga, meditation and mindfulness exercises to help students cope with stress and emotions. As the depths of student struggles with mental health became clear after the COVID-19 pandemic: last year, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved the use of these practices by schools.
Research has shown that school-based mindfulness programs can help, especially in low-income communities where students face high levels of stress or trauma.
The mindfulness program came to Smith Elementary through a contract with the school board, Clayton County Public Schools, where two-thirds of the student body is black.
GreenLight Fund Atlanta, a network that connects communities with local nonprofits, is helping Georgia school boards fund the mindfulness program offered by Inner Explorer, an audio platform.
Joli Cooper, executive director of GreenLight Fund Atlanta, said it was important for the group to support an organization that is accessible and relevant to communities of color in the Greater Atlanta area.
Children across the country struggled with the effects of isolation and distance learning as they returned from pandemic-related school closures. The CDC reported that more than a third of students were affected by COVID-19 in 2023 feelings of persistent sadness and hopelessness. The agency recommended that schools mindfulness practices to help students manage their emotions.
“We know that our teens and adolescents are really under pressure in their mental health,” CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen told The Associated Press. “There are real skills that we can give our teens to make sure that they’re coping with big emotions.”
Mindfulness approaches represent a form of social-emotional learning that has become a point of political contention, with many conservatives saying schools use it to promote progressive ideas about race, gender and sexuality.
However, proponents say the program actually draws much-needed attention to student well-being.
“When you look at the numbers, the number of kids of color who are suicidal and successful in Georgia is unfortunately quite high,” Cooper said. “When you look at the number of psychologists that are available to these kids, there are not enough psychologists of color.”
Black youth have the fastest growing suicide rate among racial groups, according to CDC statistics. Between 2007 and 2020, the suicide rate among Black children and teens ages 10 to 17 increased by 144%.
“There’s a stigma to being able to say you’re not okay and you need help, and to be able to ask for help,” said Tolana Griggs, assistant principal at Smith Elementary. “With our diverse school community and the desire to be more aware of our students, how different cultures feel and how different cultures react to things, it’s important to be inclusive in everything we do.”
Across the country, children in schools with predominantly students of color have less access to psychologists and counselors than those in schools where students are predominantly white.
The Inner Explorer program guides students and teachers through five- to 10-minute sessions of breathing, meditation, and reflection, several times a day. The program is also used in Atlanta Public Schools and more than 100 other districts across the country.
Teachers and administrators say they’ve noticed a difference in their students since incorporating mindfulness into their routine. For Aniyah Woods, 9, the program has helped her “calm down” and “not stress out anymore.”
“I love myself the way I am, but Inner Explorer just helps me feel more like myself,” Aniyah said.
Malachi Smith, 9, has been doing his exercises at home, with his father helping him meditate.
“You can relax yourself with the shark fin, and when I calm myself down, I realize that I am an excellent scholar,” Malachi said.
After Franklin’s class completed the meditation, they shared how they felt.
“Relax,” said one student.
Aniyah raised her hand.
“It made me feel at peace,” she said.
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