There is no question that schools need better, more effective ways to manage and mentor diverse student populations. One school, Robert W. Coleman Elementary School, is doing just that by getting rid of traditional punitive detention halls and bringing in yoga mats for meditation.

According to Mic, Coleman Elementary School didn’t have a single detention last year at least partly due to children being fully attentive and engaged in the classroom. This new approach to school discipline correlates with the findings that mindfulness training increases Verbal GRE scores by 60 points.

This may be untraditional but it is definitely an innovative answer to the excessive punishment so many schools have resorted to, especially against students of color.

 

Watch the video below:

 

 

Photo: Holistic Life Foundation Facebook

Author

  • Jenn M. Jackson was born and raised in East Oakland, California, a fact which motivates her writing and academic ambitions. She is a scholar, educator, and writer whose writing addresses Black Politics and civil and public life for young Black people with a focus on policing and surveillance. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of Water Cooler Convos, a culture platform for Black millennials. Her writing has been featured in Washington Post, BITCH Magazine, Marie Claire, EBONY, The Root, Daily Dot, The Independent, and many others. Jackson is a doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago studying American Politics with a focus on political participation and engagement, public opinion and social movements. For more about her, tweet her at @JennMJack or visit her website at jennmjackson.com.