Teaching mindfulness is a life-skill that is just as important as any other subject children are being taught at school.
Today more than ever children and young people are under enormous pressure and research shows that they are feeling the stress. Children are dealing with greater competition than ever before; the testing culture begins early in primary schools with SATs tests and then there are entrance exams to for secondary school to decide on which set of child will be placed in, and so on and overall the thing that comes up as the biggest stress for children is exams and tests.
Perhaps the greatest resource a child can have to help them with the incredible stress and competition that they face is kindness. The ability to be kind to themselves and others will help any child navigate the challenges of life, and the cultivation of kindness rests at the heart of mindfulness.
There isn't as much research into the impact of school-based mindfulness interventions as there is for mindfulness courses for adults, but the findings are so far encouraging. However, the positive outcomes do show up as improved behaviour and reduced anxiety.
A recent report from the World Economic Forum gathered together human resource leaders from a range of global organisations to consider what skills the future workforce will need. They outlined the top ten skill sets as complex problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, people management, coordinating with others, emotional intelligence, judgement and decision making, service orientation, negotiation and cognitive ability.
Almost all these skills are ones that can be developed and nurtured through regular mindfulness practice.
Therefore mindfulness is important for your child now, and for the adult your child will become in the future, with all the challenges and delights that lie ahead for them – we need to give this gift to our children and young people today.
Comments