The British government has announced that hundreds of schools across the nation will soon be incorporating the practice of mindfulness into students’ curriculum in order to improve mental health.
The government said in a news release on Monday that students will work with mental health experts as part of the program to develop various techniques like muscle relaxation and breathing exercises, as well as to “help regulate their emotions.”
The program, which will run until 2021, aims to give schools “robust evidence about what works best for their students’ mental health and wellbeing” in today’s environment.
{mosads}“As a society, we are much more open about our mental health than ever before, but the modern world has brought new pressures for children,” Damian Hinds, the education secretary in England, said in the government’s release.
“Children will start to be introduced gradually to issues around mental health, well-being and happiness right from the start of primary school,” he continued.
According to The New York Times, the effort arrives on the heels of a survey commissioned by the National Health Service that found 1 in 8 pupils between ages 5 and 19 in England have suffered at least one mental disorder in their lives.
The survey also showed an 11.2-percent increase in mental disorders among those ages 5-15 from 1999 to 2017. Depression and anxiety were among the mental disorders most common in the findings.
“Every day our frontline services see children and teenagers struggling to get to grips with how they fit into the increasingly complex modern world – contending with things like intense pressure at school, bullying or problems at home, all while being bombarded by social media,” Imran Hussain, the director of policy and campaigns for Action for Children, said in the release.
“It’s really encouraging to see the Government taking action to tackle the children’s mental health crisis by trialing different approaches in schools,” Hussain continued.
“We know from our own school programs how vital it is to step in early with support to stop problems in their tracks. Crucially, services like these can lessen the anxiety, pain and anguish that some teens go through, but also reduce their need for intensive support further down the line.”