Why don't we do this?

While I understand that the American education system and the Vietnamese education system are worlds away, I feel that both would still benefit from working mindfulness into the educational sector. Wake Up Schools:Cultivating Mindfulness in Education, a branch of Plum Village in France is proposing that the Vietnamese education system, and those around the world, integrate mindfulness into their curriculum. As a student in the American system, there is so much stress put on the student to succeed, and while these students are excelling, it is often overlooked that they are going through a ridiculous amount of emotional stress and instability, an aspect that the American school system has seemingly overlooked and address minimally. Since the relief of stress is obviously not coming from the outside, it would be beneficial for students to learn how to manage their emotions internally. The Wake Up Schools initiative seeks to create lasting programs that foster happiness and well-being in students, teachers, administrators, and parents. As a current senior, there is very little preventing the impending stress levels to increase, therefore I can testify to how useful such a program can be. 

I realize the unrealistic nature of this program in an American system, it is still a great idea, and one which I feel should be talked about more.     

Letter to the Viet Nam Ministry of Education and Training

http://plumvillage.org/news/letter-to-vietnam-ministry/

Wake Up School

www.wakeupschool.org 

Update: The World Bank has recently caught on and decided to provide its workers with a Day of Mindful Meditation to ease the stress of everyday life, especially in such an environment as the World Bank. The article states that Thay has been been invited to many other high stress communities, such as the United States Congress and the Google Headquarters. It doesn't seem like such a bad idea.