I was not fully convinced of the benefits of mindfulness after watching the documentary. The results seemed inconclusive and I think the director manipulated the data. The students were only part of the experiment for a brief period. AFter the experiment only a few of them still used the exercises. Also, the director did not do a thorough job of following up with the students. She only shared knowledge of a select few cases that turned out successfully. It’s not accurate for her to make broad statements that meditating substantially improves school performance. Also, she only tested a limited group of people. The school in the documentary had a lot of troubled and low-performing youth. How can we expect the same results in a different type of school?
I personally believe that meditating and mindfulness have their benefits but this documentary did nothing to support those beliefs. During high school, my Medical Ethics class would have guided meditations for 40 minutes most Fridays. It’s a lot more challenging to stay awake and focused for an entire class period than five minutes. As the class progressed more and more people were able to stay with the teacher’s readings and not fall asleep. I think this was a great exercise for self-control and focus.
