As the nation continues to look to get a handle on the ongoing mental health crisis and adapt to helping Americans who may be silently struggling, some public school systems are trying an approach they hope will help quell some of the stress students may find themselves coping with.
Mindfulness exercises, including meditation and yoga, are being incorporated into the school day in some schools as teachers and administrators try to solve the mental health issues that many students have found themselves experiencing in the wake of the COVID pandemic.
“We know that our teenagers and adolescents have really strained 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 are coping with some big emotions.”
More than a third of the nation’s children have reported feelings of hopelessness or persistent sadness since the pandemic, according to the CDC.
Some researchers believe at least some of that stems from the days when students were forced to work alone at home with only a Zoom connection tethering them to their teachers and classmates.
The programs being instituted at public schools are meant to serve communities with less or nonexistent access to counselors and psychologists, who could help attend to the mental health needs of the student population.