36 • PART i: A ModEl foR SElf-REgulATion And EngAgEMEnT
found that adolescents who had declines in behavioral and emotional engagement with
school tended to have increased delinquency and substance use over time. Further, there
was a bidirectional association between behavior and emotional engagement in school
and youth problem behaviors over time. Finally, the researchers found that lower behav-
ioral and emotional engagement and greater problem behaviors predicted a greater like-
lihood of dropping out of school. Researchers acknowledge that the risks and protective
factors associated with early school leaving, or dropout, are complex, and there is still much
to be understood about the problem (De Witte, Cabus, Thyssen, Groot, & van den Brink,
2013). As the following chapters in this book demonstrate, mindfulness and yoga interven-
tion can play a role in the reduction of risk in school dropout, perhaps through a disruption
in the pathway to risk.
Bullying and Violence
Despite our wish to see school as a safe haven, research tells us that schools can be a place
of risk for bullying and violence (Hong & Espelage, 2012). Bullying and peer victimization
are serious concerns for students, parents, teachers, and school officials (Hong & Espelage,
2012). These are system-wide as well as relational problems, with the factors associated
with bullying and peer victimization present at all ecological levels (Hong & Espelage,
2012). According to the findings of the YRBSS, 7.1% of students had not gone to school on
at least 1 day in the past 30 days before the survey because they felt they would be unsafe
at school or on their way to or from school. This rate was higher among female (8.7%) than
male (5.4%) students (Kann et al., 2014). According to the YRBSS, during the 12 months
before the survey, 14.8% of high school students had been electronically bullied, and 19.6%
had been bullied on school property (Kann et al., 2014). Of the students who completed
the YRBSS, 17.7% had carried a weapon (e.g., gun, knife, or club), 5.5% had carried a gun,
and 5.2% had carried a weapon on school property on at least 1 day during the 30 days
before the survey (Kann et al., 2014). Nationally, 6.9% of high school students had been
threatened or injured with a weapon on school property during the 12 months before the
survey. Overall, 24.7% of students had been in a physical fight, and 3.1% reported being
injured and needed treatment by a doctor (Kann et al., 2014). Of those completing the sur-
vey, 8.1% reported being in a physical fight one or more times on school property (Kann
et al., 2014).
Sexual and dating violence is also an issue. Nationally, 7.3% of students reported being
physically forced to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to, with rates being
higher among females (10.5%) than males (4.2%; Kann et al., 2014). According to the findings
of the YRBSS among the 73.0% of students who had dated or went out with someone during
the 12 months before the survey, 10.3% had been hit, slammed into something, or deliber-
ately injured with an object or weapon by someone who they were dating or going out with
(Kann et al., 2014). Among that same group, 10.4% of students had been kissed, touched, or
physically forced to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to by someone they
were dating or going out with (Kann et al., 2014). Embodied practices can help. There is
emerging evidence that yoga and mindfulness practice may be helpful in improving the
school climate and working with traumatized youth (e.g., Spinazzola, Rhodes, Emerson,
Earle, & Monroe, 2011; Wisner, Jones, & Gwin, 2010).