Schools of thought: can mindfulness lessons boost child

mental health?

Children are taking 10 minutes out from the hurly burly school

day to reflect on their thoughts and their feelings. Some ground

themselves by thinking about their feet on the floor, while others

concentrate on their breathing.

This is mindfulness, the lessons quickly growing in popularity

as an antidote to the stress of being a young person in the 21st century,

be it pressure to perform in exams, social media, or the obsession with

body image that is reported to even affect primary age children.

Children are learning about their brains and how to deal with

unruly thoughts – to control emotions such as anger and fear. It is no

longer head, shoulders, knees and toes, but amygdala, hippocampus

and pre-frontal cortex.

The most recent NHS survey of young people’s mental health

in 2017 shows one-in-eight 5- to 19-year-olds in England has a

diagnosable mental health condition. Hospital admissions for anorexia

alone more than doubled in the eight years to 2017/18.

Stress is a known barrier to learning and a growing number of

schools are targeting the emotional health of pupils through schemes

such as meditation, mindfulness and the provision of mental health first

aiders and buddies.

The Mental Health Foundation charity wants emotional

wellbeing to be at the heart of the school curriculum, and has chosen

body image as the key theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness

Week. Dr Antonis Kousoulis, its assistant director, said its survey last

year found 47% of people aged 18-24 had experienced stress over their

body image to the extent of being overwhelmed or unable to cope.

“Social media has certainly played a part,” he says. “Historically, it was

the mirror that was the main driver of perception of our image and how

we thought others perceived us. Nowadays, young people are exposed

almost on a 24/7 basis to manipulated and heavily edited images,

whether that’s in advertising or photos of their friends.”

Over the past five years there has been a proliferation of

mindfulness organisations and companies selling lesson plans and staff

training to schools. But does it work?

Secondary school teacher Richard Burnett, who founded the

Mindfulness in Schools Project 10 years ago, warns against “quick fix”

approaches. “We are a charity started by teachers who wanted to teach

children how best to manage their thoughts and feelings and deal with

the rollercoaster of being a young person,” he says.

It has two training courses for teachers – one aimed at

secondary students and another for younger classes. “It’s about training

your attention to notice what is going on. If you are aware of that, you

can choose how to respond, for example to manage the amygdala, the

part of the brain that detects fear and prepares a response,” he says.

Emotional disorders are on the rise, and we should instil

something in our children and young people about coping with stress,

advises Lee Hudson, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child

Health’s mental health lead. But should it be mindfulness? There is

evidence that the process can bring benefits to adults, he says. “[But]

the evidence for its effectiveness with children is not yet sufficiently

robust and we need more research. However, some schools are rolling

it out and children seem to enjoy it – and it unlikely to cause harm.”

(Available in: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/may/16/mindfulnesslessons-

child-mental-health. Accessed on May 17th, 2019. Adapted.)