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Okay, here’s a pet peeve popping up: the No Child Left Behind Act.

It seems as though this program continues to be evaluated for its effectiveness, and all the stories I’ve read on it say it comes up way short on accomplishing its desired outcome since its inception - high standards and accountability for the learning of all children.

I LOVE the idea of finding ways to assist all of our kids to learn and grow into healthy, socially resourceful adults. What makes me crazy is that it was doomed from the start BECAUSE OF ITS TITLE.

Try this experiment: DON’T think about elephants. No, really - DON’T THINK ABOUT ELEPHANTS! What’s happening? Are you thinking about elephants? And the more you try NOT to think about elephants, are they starting to stampede through your mind?

It’s a simple brain thing - the mind doesn’t register “don’t”, “can’t”, or “not”. It just registers what comes after it. Have you ever told a child: “Do not climb on the counter!”? Where’s the next place you found that child?

The subtle, unconscious problem with NCLB is that all the mind registers is “Child Left Behind Act.” It’s totally contradictory to what we actually want for our children.

So the obvious first step to turning our good intentions into real solutions is to change the name. What if it was called the EVERY CHILD INCLUDED ACT?

Think about the energy behind these opposing titles. What’s going on in your body when you think about “NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND?” For me, my body takes a fighting stance, fist waving in the air - quite the shadow energy of fear, defensiveness, ready to attack. This is NOT where solutions live.

Now pay attention to what’s going on in your body when you think about “EVERY CHILD INCLUDED.”

My body feels an expanding energy, a sense of community, and a belief that it’s actually possible to somehow include every child. I easily shift into possibility and solution thinking - how can we include every child?

We must be much more vigilant about how we are unconsciously sabotaging the very things we want in the world by choosing the thoughts and words that contradict what we want.

This is the way you can CHOOSE LOVE TODAY - pay attention and choose your words CAREFULLY.

In the winter issue (#21) of Shift Magazine (http://www.noetics.org/publications/magazine.cfm), a publication of the Institute of Noetic Science, there are three fascinating - and I think related - tidbits in the “Research Roundup” section.

From an Ohio State University press release (August 2998):
“We’re finding that hope is consistently associated with fewer symptoms of depression [in older adults],” says Jennifer Cheavens, assistant professor of psychology at the university. The reserachers characterized hope as “having a pathway to get what you want, and the motivation and strength to follow that path.”

From a University of California at Los Angeles press release (July 2008):
An 8-week program teaching mindfulness meditation to HIV/AIDS patients was initially found to stop the decline in CD4 T cells, the cells that are attacked by HIV. They defined mindfulness meditation as “the practice of bringing an open and receptive awareness to the present moment, instead of thinking about the past or worrying about the future.”

From Science News (October 2008):
“Our data suggests that religious belief alters the brain in a way that changes how a person responds to pain,” says Oxford neuroscientist Irene Tracey. Devout Catholics in a study reported feeling peaceful and secure, as well as thinking about compassion and other religious concepts, while viewing a picture of the Virgin Mary. They related that image as especially helpful in coping with pain.

I see that these three research projects have at least one thing in common. Hope, mindfulness, and religious and spiritual practices are all a choice, and the choice is to focus on Love and compassion rather than on fear, worry, or pain.

These studies offer more evidence to the rapidly growing body of research that supports what we already know somewhere in our collective consciousness: choosing fear is de-constructive to our health, and Choosing Love is good for us.