From the forums

20th April 2012, 1:00am

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From the forums

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/forums-72

Mindfulness lessons

Should teaching “mindfulness” and compassion be compulsory? It’s not part of the PSHE curriculum yet, just a proposal currently.

frannysing

Yet more enforced “niceness” - it would be far more productive if we could ensure that children could read, write and do basic maths before we try to turn them all into empathetic bleeding heart wussies. Our economy will eventually fall behind the rest of the world, as we stop educating our children, stop making them competitive and focus all their school lives on being nice.

newposter

I still wonder, do kids need to be hugged, loved and cherished quite so much? Experience tells me that those who had it a bit tough grew up to be independent, self-sufficient and, usually, willing to lend a hand. Those who were mollycoddled grew up to be spoiled, parent-dependent and self-serving adults. Society today focuses itself on the wrong aspects of childrearing.

The Pobble

The jaundiced responses on here prompt the question: who would be able to teach it, for God’s sake? Particularly if “teaching by example” was the prescribed “methodology”.

vehar

I’m all in favour of children “being nice and friendly and inclusive and huggy”. I admire any parent who’s taken the trouble to encourage this in their own children, rather than leaving it to a school to do for them.

deliasmithbook

I’m tempted to say that pupils with special educational needs or emotional and behavioural difficulties probably do benefit from an approach like this, but clever pupils in the mainstream would, I suspect, treat it with the disdain they give to other “non-subjects” such as (elements of) PSHE and citizenship. I find myself agreeing with those who say that this is really the job of parents.

FolkFan

Children who have some kind of religious education outside school - or within a faith school - will be taught about charity, giving without expecting anything back, the benefits of helping others, patience, modesty, not backbiting and not doing things for show but for God.

palmtree100

It doesn’t seem to be that successful so far.

harsh-but-fair

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