Mindfulness in schools makes for
A programme is equipping teachers to help vulnerable children to develop essential life skills
Many children in South Africa are born into harsh conditions such as poverty, domestic violence and poor-quality schooling, leaving them with a difficult start in life. With more than two million orphaned and vulnerable children in South Africa, immediate intervention and action is needed to provide them with healthy coping mechanisms.
Newly formed nongovernmental organisation Wise (Wellbeing in Schools & Education) aims to address this need by offering educators and caregivers in underprivileged schools and communities practical and empowering training. The wellness-based programme provides materials that teach children essential life skills such as emotional intelligence, nonviolent communication, forgiveness, gratitude and mindfulness. In doing so, Wise helps to empower children to become expressive, confident and happy.
Mindfulness is becoming common practice in international schools with studies reporting reduced stress in children and enhanced mental performance. More than 5000 teachers in the United Kingdom have been trained in teaching mindfulness, and in 2017 a mindfulness curriculum was rolled out in many United States schools.
With the unique set of problems that South African children face, both at school and at home, it makes sense that schools can also benefit from a mindfulness approach. Too often we see vulnerable children in difficult circumstances resort to negative coping behaviours such as violence, bullying, alcohol and drug abuse, and even suicide.
“The suicide rate for South African children aged 10 to 14 has more than doubled in the past 15 years, and yet we continue to place importance on teaching maths and English in schools, when children would surely benefit from resources that can equip them with self-esteem, self-sufficiency and self-love that can contribute to their overall wellbeing,” says Carol Surya, a psychologist and cofounder of Wise.
Surya, who has been involved in stress-management training for more than 20 years and is the author of two parenting books (Great Kids and Parent Magic), partnered with Biodanza facilitator, sculptor and entrepreneur Carmen Clews in 2017 to develop the pilot study and training programme for Wise in the Western Cape.
Over a period of 12 years Clews and Surya had been independently developing materials for children’s wellbeing (Surya’s Inner Magic selfesteem children’s game and Clews’s books, The Magic Mat and its Little Secret and Planting Seeds for Life), when they saw the opportunity to combine their skills and materials to introduce a holistic training programme aimed at parents, educators and caregivers.
“Unfortunately, there is a desperate shortage of professionals, resources and wellness materials to assist children — especially those who have been neglected or otherwise marginalised. Our unique tools are professionally designed to