School Uses Mindfulness As Proactive Approach To School Safety

Check out this news story from NBC Channel 5 on mindfulness at Hexter. A HUGE thank you to Ms. Veronica, Ms. Youngblood, our fabulous 5th graders, and ALL of our teachers who have said YES to mindfulness practices and strategies as an approach to proactive, responsive classroom management. Our students are becoming better, stronger human beings because of it.

At a time when the sales of bullet proof backpacks and metal reinforced binders are climbing due to school safety concerns, some Dallas elementary schools are using another method to promote a safe environment.

At Hexter Elementary in east Dallas, classes circle up for weekly mindfulness lessons.

Funded by a private donor, peace educator Veronica Valles teaches those classes starting with a series of three deep breaths before checking in on how students are feeling.

“It’s a critical tool, because it’s social, emotional intelligence. We’re not trained to know how to understand our emotions. We’re not trained to know it’s normal to have difficult emotions, but I can use mindfulness and the pause to respond, to get beneath what’s happening before I react, to turn to someone for support before maybe I would take an action that’s harmful to myself or others,” said Valles.

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