Call for mindfulness to ease teen stress

Concerns about stress levels for teenagers are driving calls to get mindfulness teaching in schools.

The Kindness Institute is pushing for the Government to take the idea of mindfulness in schools ‘‘seriously’’ as part of its Wellbeing budget.

Kristina Cavit is the founder of the institute (TKI), which provides services to improve the mental health resilience of rangatahi (youth) from under-privileged and marginalised backgrounds.

The group submitted to the Mental Health and Addiction Inquiry, calling for mindfulness education in schools – and Cavit said it was the biggest submission with 15,000 signatures.

The inquiry’s report acknowledged mindfulness should be a part of a holistic approach to the nation’s wellbeing, and that part of that may include children.

‘‘The intention is there to boost wellbeing . . . but I’m still waiting to see specifically what is going to happen with that [Wellbeing] Budget and where it is going to go,’’ Cavit said.

‘‘We were really pleased to see that mindfulness education was actually included in the report as a strategy that should be looked into.’’

Secondary Principals Association (SPANZ) president and Onehunga High School principal Deirdre Shea has been involved with TKI and said it did some ‘‘great work’’ with young people.

The Government funding initiatives like TKI to support schools in implementing mindfulness education ‘‘made sense’’.

‘‘Schools are self-managing, so some may say this is not for us, others may say it is.’’