Meditation can not only calm the mind, but it also boosts the individual's overall health. Numerous researches proved its effectivity and the results are astonishing. One of the biggest evidence that surfaced, pointing to the power of meditation is the way it changed hundreds of students' behavior in one of San Francisco's toughest schools.
As per The Guardian, students from the Visitacion Valley Middle School improved their grades and reduced their stress levels with the help of meditation. The said school is actually known as one of the toughest schools in the state as it was filled with stress and tension since the school is surrounded by gang violence and drugs.
As per the school's head of physical education, Barry O'Driscoll, there were around 38 killings within the neighborhood back in 2006. He then added that the daily lives of students were greatly affected as they were exposed to the violence surrounding the community. Several fights would break out each and every day.
With the dilemma the school has to face, they came up with a meditation program known as Quiet Time, O'Driscoll admitted that he was a bit hesitant at first as he thought it is not going to work.
"When I first heard about it I thought it probably wasn't going to work," O'Driscoll stated. "We get thrown a new thing every couple of years so I didn't put too much faith in it. Students seemed happy, "
Surprisingly, after the program started, the teachers were quite surprised with the outcome as students changed their perspective towards violence and they tend to be happier and the number of fights that occurred within the school drastically decreased.
"They worked harder, paid more attention, were easier to teach and the number of fights fell dramatically," a teacher mentioned. "It's provided a lot of stability to our school, helping staff and kids get through the stress they have in their lives."
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