Please sign this petition to REQUIRE MINDFULNESS and COPING SKILLS EDUCATION for all public schools. I am advocating for the mental health of the student to be considered just as important as learning literature or science or any other class provided by public education.

My name is Rebecca Prete. I am a mother of four children, a wife, and a yoga teacher. I am so sad about all of the student’s lives that have been lost because of school shootings in our country. When Columbine massacre happened, I was a child and it was a complete shock to me. I am so sick and scared that this has become normal for our society now. I fear for my children and this keeps me up at night.

Why do these kids feel so bad to want to kill their peers? It’s more than the guns or no guns argument…it’s about the lost soul behind the gun that needs to be healed so they do not kill others. This is an epidemic and it has to be taken just as seriously as the coronavirus. 

Nothing has changed and I can’t keep burying my head in the sand thinking this will just go away on it’s own and that this is just a phase that we will all grow out of. 

This all keeps me up at night and I fear for my children’s lives. I tell myself that maybe it’s an irrational fear, but the number of shootings is so substantial that it sadly is not.

Part of the mindfulness education could include meeting on a weekly basis where students sit in a circle with their peers and check-in about how they are feeling and also get a chance to get to know each other on a deeper level.

Mindfulness techniques such as meditation and breathing exercises can be explored. This education should be as important as science class or any other class our budget covers because it is education for the student’s emotional/social growth and development which is vital for a child’s mental health and well-being.  This education can help to create a community-feel and also help the students empathize and be compassionate towards each other. Studies have shown that group therapy is the most effective form of therapy; thus, there can be facilitated groups on important emotional issues they are experiencing collectively.

Maybe, over time, this will help with the bullying problem and at the very least help each other be more kind and loving and less likely to go kill their peers. This also has potential to help with addiction problems, depression, anxiety, and other difficult issues that students may experience. So much of communication is now done through social media and it should be our duty to help our children disconnect from their phones, connect with their peers, and to love and respect their community and themselves.

Thank you for your consideration. 

Sincerely,

Rebecca Prete