REX, Georgia – Third-graders at Roberta T. Smith Elementary School had just a few days until summer break and an hour until lunch, but they had no trouble focusing as they walked into the classroom. They were ready for one of their favorite parts of the day.
The children closed their eyes and traced their thumbs from their foreheads to their hearts as a pre-recorded voice led them through an exercise called shark finning, part of the classroom’s regular meditation routine.
“Listen to the bells,” said teacher Kim Franklin. “Remember to breathe.”
Schools across the US have been introducing yoga, meditation and mindfulness exercises to help students manage stress and emotions. Like the depths student struggles with mental health became clear in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year endorsed the use of these practices by schools.
Research has found that school-based mindfulness programs can help, especially in low-income communities where students face high levels of stress or trauma.
The mindfulness program came to Smith Elementary through a contract with the school system, Clayton County Public Schools, where two-thirds of the students are black.
GreenLight Fund Atlanta, a network that connects communities with local nonprofits, helps Georgia school systems pay for mindfulness programming provided by Inner Explorer, an audio platform.
Joli Cooper, executive director of GreenLight Fund Atlanta, said it was important for the group to support an organization that is accessible and relevant to communities of color in the metro Atlanta area.
Children across the country have struggled with the effects of isolation and remote learning as they return from school closures due to the pandemic. The CDC in 2023 reported that more than a third of students were affected by persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness. The agency recommended that schools use mindfulness practices to help students manage emotions.
“We know that our teens and tweens have really suffered mental health,” CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen told the Associated Press. “There are real skills we can give our teens to make sure they are dealing with big emotions.”
Mindfulness approaches represent a form of social-emotional learning, which has become a flashpoint among many conservatives who say schools use it to promote progressive ideas about race, gender and sexuality.
But advocates say the programming brings needed attention to students’ well-being.
“When you look at the numbers, unfortunately, in Georgia, the number of black children experiencing suicidal thoughts and success is quite high,” Cooper said. “When you look at the number of psychologists available for these children, there are not enough black psychologists.”
Black youth have the fastest-growing suicide rate among racial groups, according to CDC statistics. Between 2007 and 2020, the suicide rate among black children and adolescents aged 10 to 17 increased by 144%.
“It’s a stigma to be able to say you’re not okay and you need help, and have the ability to ask for help,” said Tolana Griggs, assistant principal at Smith Elementary. “With our diverse school community and wanting to be more aware of our students, how different cultures feel and how different cultures react to things, it is important to be inclusive in everything we do.”
Across the country, children in schools that primarily serve black students have less access to psychologists and counselors than those in schools that serve primarily white students.
The Inner Explorer program guides students and teachers through five- to 10-minute breathing, meditation, and reflection sessions several times a day. The program is also used in Atlanta Public Schools and more than 100 other districts across the country.
Teachers and administrators say they’ve noticed a difference in their students since incorporating mindfulness into their routine. For Aniyah Woods, 9, the program helped her “calm down” and “not stress anymore.”
“I love myself the way I am, but Inner Explorer just helps me feel more like myself,” said Aniyah.
Malachi Smith, 9, has been using his exercises at home, with his father helping guide him through meditation.
“You can relax with the shark fin, and when I calm down, I realize that I am an excellent scholar,” Malachi said.
After Franklin’s class finished the meditation, they shared how they were feeling.
“Relaxed,” said one student.
Aniyah raised her hand.
“It made me feel at peace,” she said.
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