Dr. Jack Jenkins believes it's time to bring Transcendental Meditation to the school system. Director of the P.K. Yonge Lab School and president of the Gainesville Association of Professionals Practicing the Transcendental Meditation Program, Jenkins said TM offers a simple, effective solution to the critical problems facing education. Falling test scores, substance abuse and school violence directly result from rising levels of stress in the schools. Jenkins said that hundreds of scientific research studies have shown that TM is a highly effective technique for significantly reducing stress and anxiety, and for increasing IQ, creativity and academic performance. He said the technique is ideal ly suited for students.
Students love it.
To help promote the idea, Jenkins and the group of area professionals who practice TM invited Harry Bright, a lecturer from Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa, to come to Gainesville on Sunday to present recent scientific research on the benefits of TM and discuss the use of the technique in education. At a time when studies show children are more stressed than ever before, Bright believes TM may offer some answers. With no intention to push a plan before the local school hoard, he instead wants to get the word out on the technique, which, while it has proven to reduce stress, still seems to scare some people. He said TM is a simple, easily learned mental technique, practiced for 15 to 20 minutes each day. He stressed that it is not a religion, philosophy or a lifestyle.