Ahmedabad Schools Launch Daily Meditation Drive to Curb Rising Aggression

Following a series of incidents involving anger among students, including a shocking case in which one was killed inside the premises of a school, Ahmedabad launched a massive drive to bring back the lost emotional balance among children.

Recently, it has been reported that a student from Seventh Day School in Maninagar was killed by another student over a minor issue. This has brought great concerns about student behaviour and how impulsiveness is leading to a growth in violence. Reports even indicate that trivial issues now result in fights, clashes, and sometimes fatal attacks.

It was to tackle this increasing menace that the district education officer of Ahmedabad City introduced the "Billion Minutes of Peace Appeal Project". Under this program, students across around 1,800 schools in the city will do 10 minutes of meditation every day. Already, over 5 lakh students started participation. According to the officials, the increase in violence in children is partially because of excessive screentime and sedentric lifestyle. Hence this particular project is to regulate emotions and stress in children.

Meditation sessions will be conducted within the school premises by the teachers who have been so-trained. In addition to the silent practice, students will be taught how to resolve conflicts, to react in a reflective way to provocations, and to recognize signals indicating emotional distress.

The authorities hope that with this move, aggression in campuses would lessen and more tranquility would come in. The program would avoid impulsive actions among students through mindfulness and self-control, and make them think before acting.

The education department would monitor the progress of the program over time, expecting significant changes in behavior among the students.