Can meditation help children?

A number of Irish primary schools have been reaping the rewards of meditation time for students.

 

Children are using it in the school yard during moments of conflict and other pupils say it has helped them ward off nervousness during exams.

 

Teachers have noted the improvement in children’s concentration and say it has worked as an anger-management strategy.

 

One principal even said meditation helped one student improve his poor performance in maths by realising that the subject wasn’t a problem once he calmed his restless mind and focused on the questions calmly.

 

Meditation is known to aid mental and emotional balance and can help with stress, anxiety and depression.

 

What do you think? Should all schools introduce meditation time to help students relax? Are there benefits to the practice or would time be better spent on physical education and academic subjects?