Use This App to Be Happier, Teachers Tell Their Students

Mindfulness apps are gaining popularity around the world, and New Zealand and Australia are bringing these apps straight to their schools – where teachers use them to better understand their students’ needs and provide them support when they need it most.

A popular example of an app used in both countries is from the Australian Childhood Trauma Group. Students, who may have faced trauma or neglect, record their sleeping and eating patterns as well as their feelings for teachers to provide specialized assistance to each child in distress.

Another wellbeing app, Smiling Mind – used by teachers to help students refocus after lunch and breaks – is especially popular in schools in Australia’s third largest state: the Northern Territory. Though the state itself is bigger than Egypt, its population is under 250,000. This makes many areas – especially indigenous communities – feel isolated, lacking sufficient access to support services.

Dr Addie Wootten, clinical psychologist chief executive of Smiling Mind explains the benefits of using the app in schools: “The teacher can start to talk about how your body physically reacts to emotion, and how kids can learn simple techniques to calm their body so they settle themselves rather than react to those emotions.”