HOWLAND, Ohio - At Howland High School, students may be offered an alternative to detention or suspension.

The school is implementing Mindfulness Monday, a 30-minute program once a month where students learn to reflect on their actions and cope with stress. 

Instead of sitting through a detention period, students take a moment to pause, breathe deep and reflect. 

"I was noticing that my students were really stressed, not only with school work but things that were going on outside of school," said Gina Camelli, Howland Local Schools psychology teacher. 

The new program began on Monday, November 18. 

"There are so many reasons as to why a student may exhibit negative behaviors in school or not follow the rules. Many students may act out because they are dealing with things at home or in their personal lives that they have not yet developed the coping skills to overcome," said Howland High School principal Joe Simko.

Valley Congressman Tim Ryan who wrote a book about mindfulness said that it's a program more schools should consider. 

"I think a lot more schools are starting to say look- I'm not going to suspend a kid and put them out on the streets because it just makes matters worse. How do we begin to pull them in, have counseling teach them the kind of techniques they're going to need," Ryan said.