Meditation instead of detention?

The idea of replacing detention with meditation has been around for a while, with a few schools in Cape Town having already implemented some kind of mindfulness programme. But what factors would have to be in place for it to be used on a wide scale in South Africa?

CapeTalk's Saskia Falken spoke to Esme van Deventer, Education Consultant, who believes the entire echo system has to change first.

"To get something right like that in our current school system would take a massive overhaul because at the moment we know all the statistics where our classes are overcrowded, teachers are overworked. All of these things play a role," said Van Deventer.

She believes people can actually only learn to regulate when they themselves are shown regulation techniques. "Unfortunately, as a country, I think we are very dysregulated people. And so to ask teachers to co-regulate with children becomes a phenomenally massive undertaking because if a teacher is not regulated him or herself, they can't then co-regulate with the class to achieve the outcome that we want."

She said she'd like to see teachers build a classroom of psychological safety for children.

Van Deventer also urged parents to remember that influences at home are vital. "That is the child's first experience of the world and how to interact with people. And so for parents who really want to make a difference, I think it's about remembering that your child is their own person too. So yes, you want to help them make good decisions and I always say you can only make good decisions if you have good decisions.

"So at home if you're allowing them to say I'm really angry about this or I'm really upset, that starts the process of allowing children to go: ""Hey my emotions don't scare the people in my life who are looking after me."" I think that's number one.

"Number two: you help them start to develop the language around it so that they don't have to hit or act out. They can actually say: I'm really frustrated in this moment because so and so did this and it can sit in a safe container. "

To listen to Van Deventer's full discussion with Saskia Falken, click the media player below: