In a bright room at Robert W. Coleman Elementary School in Baltimore, a group of kids sit around the edge of a colorful checkerboard rug. They close their eyes, and an instructor walks them through a belly breathing exercise.
Technically, they’re there because they acted out: they got in a scuffle on the playground, or spoke out of turn in class. But this is not detention: the Mindful Moment Room is Robert W. Coleman Elementary’s attempt to break the entrenched cycle of disruption and punishment in schools.
Since 2014, the school has partnered with the local nonprofit Holistic Life Foundation to bring meditation and mindfulness to students. Around 120 students sign up to participate in the free after-school program, Holistic Me, where they practice yoga, reflection, and breathing exercises. And instead of the traditional sit-at-your-desk-and-watch-the-clock-tick mode of detention, disruptive students are brought to the Mindful Moment Room to breathe and talk with a counselor.
[For more of this story, written by Ellie Anzilotti, go to http://www.citylab.com/navigat...r-urban-kids/507461/]
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