Fwd: Weil organization to study ways to limit kids' hostility

[Guest guest]

>Weil organization to study ways to limit kids' hostility

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> Sunday, 24 September 2000

> Weil organization to study ways to limit kids' hostility

> Starting next week, about 150 Tucson schoolchildren will be learning

>relaxation, stretching and breathing techniques to reduce hostility and

>aggression in classrooms.

>

> " All of the alarming trends toward violence we've seen in our

>schools are only going to get worse unless we do something to counteract

>it, " said Dr. Andrew Weil, the internationally known Tucson physician and

>author who founded the " integrative medicine " movement in this country.

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> " TV violence, movie violence, the breakdown of families - these are

>the things feeding these trends, and we have to act now to reverse them. "

>

> It is Weil's newly formed National Integrative Medicine Council, or

>NIMC, that is directing the small pilot study to teach these techniques in

>two third-grade classrooms in Tucson - at Davidson and Howell elementary

>schools.

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> Teachers have been trained in the techniques by NIMC staff and will

>begin teaching them to students - in 20-minute sessions three times a week

>for 10 weeks - beginning Oct. 2.

>

> In December, the behavior in these classrooms will be compared to

>behavior in third-grade classrooms that have not had the training, said

>Julian Montaño, project coordinator for NIMC.

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> If the study proves successful in improving classroom behavior, the

>project could be expanded throughout Tucson Unified School District

>elementary schools and then to other states, she said.

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> " We will be measuring anxiety levels, academic performance,

>stress-related behaviors and attendance records - both before and after the

>training, " Montaño said. " We'll look at report cards, trips to the

>principal's office, teacher evaluations and psychological testing to

>determine what effect these techniques have. "

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> The pilot study is funded by a $55,000 grant from the Ittleson

>Foundation, a private group based in New York.

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>

> * Carla McClain

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