**********BIRTH PANG WATCH********* Students at Visitacion Valley School in San Francisco, California, observe Quiet Time, a program in which students meditate for 15 minutes twice a day. Thanks to the power of meditation, tranquility has come to the schools located in one of the poorest and violence-wracked neighborhoods of San Francisco, California. Talking to NBC News recently, school administrators said the introduction of a meditation program called Quiet Time to at least four schools in the area has brought peace and order inside the school campuses and even improved the attendance and academic performance of students. Barry ODriscoll, athletic director of Visitacion Valley School, said violence in the neighborhood used to spill inside the school, affecting the behaviour of students who tend to absorb the violence around them, making them edgy and prone to fight each other. The kids see guns on a daily basis, ODriscoll said, adding, there would be fights here three-to-five times a week. Four years ago, the San Francisco Public School District introduced the meditation program to the middle school and three others in the area. ODriscoll said at first he was skeptical about the program. I thought this is hippy stuff that didnt work in the 70s, so hows it gonna work now, he said. But he became a believer when the program began yielding positive results, including a decrease in suspensions by 79 percent and improved attendance and academic performance by the students.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 11:49:20 +0000
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