What Happens When Schools Teach Kids to Love Themselves

Evelyn Reed · 2026-09-09

What if the most important thing we taught kids wasn't math or reading—but how to actually sit with themselves? That's the question Janice Martellucci has been answering for years as Executive Director of Peace in Schools. Her answer might surprise you. Peace in Schools is a nonprofit bringing mindfulness into regular school curriculum. Not as an add-on, not as a special assembly, but as a for-credit class that students take just like history or biology. And the results? They go way beyond what anyone expected. ### Why Mindfulness Belongs in the Classroom When we think about school, we think about academics. Test scores. College prep. But Janice makes a point that stops you in your tracks: kids can't learn if they don't feel safe in their own bodies. Mindfulness training gives students tools to notice what they're feeling without being overwhelmed by it. A teenager dealing with anxiety, pressure, or trauma learns to pause. To breathe. To respond instead of react. That's not a soft skill. That's a life skill. > "We're not fixing kids. We're equipping them to meet themselves—and to love what they find." That quote captures the heart of the work. It's not about making troubled kids calm down. It's about helping every kid discover they're already whole. ### The Real Benefits Go Beyond Grades When mindfulness becomes part of the school day, here's what teachers and students report: - Better focus and attention during class - Fewer behavioral referrals and suspensions - Lower reported anxiety and stress levels - Stronger relationships between students and teachers - A general sense of calm that ripples through the whole building These aren't just feel-good outcomes. They're evidence-based, measured over years of implementation. And they show up in schools serving all kinds of communities—urban, rural, wealthy, under-resourced. ### Meeting Kids Where They Are One of the most powerful things about this approach is that it doesn't ask kids to be different. It meets them exactly where they are. A student who's grieving a loss. A student who's anxious about grades. A student who just can't sit still. Mindfulness doesn't label any of them as broken. It simply offers a way to be with whatever is happening. And over time, that simple practice changes everything. ### What This Means for the Rest of Us Even if you're not a teacher or a parent, there's something here. The idea that we're inherently whole—that we don't need to fix ourselves before we can be okay—is a radical one. Janice and her team are proving it works with teenagers. Imagine what it could do for the rest of us. If you're curious about bringing mindfulness into your own life or your community, start small. Five minutes a day. Notice your breath. Notice what you're feeling. That's it. Because wholeness isn't something we achieve. It's something we uncover. And sometimes, the youngest among us are the best teachers.