Quiet Time In School

Quiet Time In School

by Barbra N. Villareal

The frequent fightings, cursing each other, vandalism, weaponry and other juvenile troubles has been a problem persisting among schools here in the Philippines. These problems for the longest time had left many faculty members unsure of how to keep their students focused in the classroom, more importantly, how to keep their students away from trouble.

A program simply called ‘Quiet Time” was first introduced in San Francisco Visitacion Valley Middle School in 2007 and developed by George Rutherford. Hopefully, this practice can be adopted here. Four years after it was introduced into the daily regimen of the students, some remarkable results were shown, including an increase in attendance, a decrease in stress levels among both students and teacher fewer incidents of  depression in students and improve self-esteem among students. 

The program teaches the students transcendental meditation to be practiced for 15 minutes, twice daily. Transcendental meditation is the purest, simplest, and most effective form of meditation. It is a technique to avoid distracting thoughts and to promote a state of relaxed awareness. It carries away a feeling of restful alertness into the student day-to-day affairs. 

What’s happening is that the meditation quiets the sympathetic nervous system. It takes the mind away from the commotion and worries of life. The nervous system stills. The blood pressure, respiration rate and heart rate, which rise with stress, fall to a more normal level .A gong is sounded and students, some of whom who normally can’t sit still for 20 seconds, shut their eyes and repeat a mantra till the mind become silent. It makes you more conscious of your actions,” one female student explained.“It brings you down to that level of calmness and stillness,” as a male  student said.

Some schools in the Philippines have tried everything from counselling and tutoring to home visits and sports activities. But disappointingly, there has been little effect. Drop-out rates continue to rise amidst the various strategies.The practice of meditation deserves  serious attention from parents and policymakers since this strategy, if integrated into a school’s daily routine, can greatly improve the lives of the students. It emphasizes the socio-emotional factors in improving kids’ lives, not just academics.

While “Quiet Time” isn’t the final solution for a broken education system, it’s a new step for many students who otherwise might have emotional or academic issues .As the quote by the famous Dalai Lama goes..”If every 8 year old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation.” 

Change is inevitable and venturing to a new strategy is not wrong. That’s reason enough to make meditation a school must here in our country. /MP