Fussbucket

by Stacey

Some schools around the country are teaching students a controversial form of meditation to help battle stress. According to this article in Newsweek, transcendental meditation may help kids in inner city schools better handle stressful situations as well as improve their academic performance.

TM is the trademarked name of a meditation technique created by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1958. In the past decade or so, alternative and Eastern forms of health have been gaining traction in the mainstream, including for kids. Some schools include yoga in their physical-education classes, private kiddie yoga classes abound and top universities regularly publish research on the benefits of meditation and prayer. TM itself, which is promoted as a 20-minute physiological technique that calms the mind and nervous system, is also showing profound results where practiced, according to proponents: better grades and SAT scores, less bullying, longer attention spans and happier kids. They point to a slew of recent medical studies to back up their claims.

But critics worry that this kind of training is a form of religious brainwashing and they want none of it, at least in the public school system. One major area of concern is a Sanskrit initiation ceremony that involves incense and a candle and the bestowing of mantras.

“TM has always been rooted in the religion of Hinduism,” says Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which keeps a close legal eye on the TM movement. “There are no imminent cases right now, but people, including conservative Christian parents will say if Christianity can’t be taught in the public schools then Hinduism can’t be either.”

But advocates claim none of this has anything to do with worshiping God. The ceremony, they say, is a cultural expression of gratitude to one’s teacher. And the actual meditation is a mechanical, physiological process that induces relaxation.

Sounds like a reasonable debate. Personally, I would be comfortable with my children learning some form of meditation in school. I find yoga to be relaxing and stress-relieving and I like the incense, candles and chanting of “Om” that we do in my favorite class. But I could see how someone who is not dabbling in these waters would be uncomfortable with it. I certainly don’t want my kid to end up selling flowers at the airport and dancing around in a bed sheet. Not to mention shaving off those curls on his head. Oy.

Despite some parents very real concerns (they have even hired lawyers to stop the programs), some studies have shown that kids to respond well to TM.

The National Institutes of Health has awarded some $20 million to study TM. A 2004 Medical College of Georgia study of 156 inner-city African-American teens found that TM helped lower blood pressure, while a 2003 University of Michigan study found that African-American sixth-graders who practiced TM daily had better self-esteem and handled stress better than other area students. The largest study on TM and young people is currently being undertaken by researchers from American University in Washington, D.C., and Maharishi University in Iowa. They have been monitoring 250 college students from American, Georgetown, Howard and other D.C.-area universities who practiced meditation for nine months. Early results appear to show greater brain functioning and less irritability and sleepiness.

What do you think? Should schools stay out of the stress-busting business? Or would you welcome the training in your child’s school?