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Why Play Classical Music During Lunch?

If you ever visit Grace Academy during lunchtime, you will find the students sitting at round tables with linen table cloths and flowers, listening to classical music, using good manners, and being relatively quiet. Of course they’re allowed to talk, but I want them to be able to hear the music, and so we use our soft ‘inside’ voices.

There are several different reasons for this, but the one I want to explore today is this: the soothing music helps calm the reptile in them.

Don’t worry, you don’t need new glasses; you read that correctly: the reptile.

THE “TRIUNE BRAIN”

The late Dr. Paul MacLean’s study of the human brain led him to form an interesting theory about the “triune brain.” And while I do not agree with everything Dr. Maclean does regarding the origins of human beings, I think his theory presents an interesting and even helpful way of thinking about our brains’ structure.

MacLean’s insight was that the human brain is quite complex and appears to be operating on several different levels. The three categories he identifies are: reptilian, mammalian, and human.

When it comes to understanding children, this can be a very useful way of interpreting their various actions.

Children, more than adults, are susceptible to the powerful, instinctive, non-thinking, and often irrational impulses generated by the ‘reptilian’ part of their brains, which is concerned with things such as searching for food, grooming, establishing territory, and forming social groups.

Or put it this way: most of the problems you encounter during recess stem from the ‘reptilian’ part of their behavior!

For example, children form cliques, tell others “you can’t be part of our group,” guard the swing so no one else can use it, become very anxious when they aren’t allowed to join in a game, and eventually get hungry and ask you “when can we line up for snack time?” during which they brush all the dirt out of their hair and off their clothes so they look presentable again. Well…some kids do this

THE REPTILE IN ACTION

Children throwing a tantrum are deep in the ‘reptilian’ state of mind, during which it does little good to try and reason things out with them logically.

Junior high students are notorious for such behavior. Any teacher or parent has likely watched them and wondered whether or not they care about anything besides how they look and to which group they belong!

By the way, adults display this ‘reptilian’ behavior, too. (Mine manifests itself as an overwhelming desire for chocolate!)

As an adult, though, you have experiences and brain connections that allow you to deal with these instincts more efficiently and calmly. So before you dismiss this part of the brain as immature and impossible to handle, realize the important role you play in helping your children or students cope with this part of their natures.

After all, they might act reptilian at times, but they’re still human beings, and precious ones at that!

RESTORING THE HUMAN BRAIN

If you’ve ever seen a student incessantly biting their fingernails during a test or have a child who is terrified to read out loud in front of the class, you have encountered an individual in a paralyzed, reptilian state of mind. And as long as they are in this state of mind, they will have difficulty moving beyond that behavior.

Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer, often reminds dog owners not to reward their dog until they are in a calm, submissive state. Meaning, owners see an excited dog wagging its tail and get right in its face, petting it repeatedly while saying “Who’s a good boy, huh?! Who’s a good boy? You are! That’s right, you are!”

They do this thinking the dog is happy, not realizing that the only message the dog is getting is my pack leader prefers that I be in an excited state of mind. Then the owners don’t understand why the dog barks so much when the doorbell rings or they see another dog during their walk. The truth is, the owner told the dog that’s exactly the behavior they desire.

Children, too, need to be in the right state of mind for learning and meaningful interaction to take place.

That is why I play classical music and encourage teachers to provide a loving, calm, safe, and encouraging climate in the classroom.

My son has told me that this is why he first called me “The School Whisperer” – he said I have a calming effect on children. If I do, it is something I have developed over time.

It starts with helping children feel safe. Before they can enjoy the benefits of learning and higher cognitive functioning, they must have their basic needs met: needs for love, nurturing, exercise, and nutrition. If a school or home neglects these, even if in favor of “higher learning,” the child will not be able to progress and develop naturally or fully.

Instead, left to their ‘reptilian’ state, they will seek first to protect themselves, preventing them from engaging in the deeper aspects of their natures, the mammalian and human – and I would add spiritual to Dr. MacLean’s list.

Sometimes it takes a lot of concentrated guidance to help a child work through these issues, such as a deep-seated fear of public reading, a problem that is reinforced each time they encounter it, leading to a spiraling down effect and increased anxiety.

But sometimes a calm hand on the shoulder or speaking in a soft voice will do the trick to help them snap out of it and back into a higher state of mind.

So please don’t yell or use aggressive physical actions. That only drives children deeper into the kind of thinking you were trying to pull them out of in the first place.

We desire peace for our children and for our students. God desires peace for us, His children. 1 Corinthians 14:33 states, “For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace.”  People often share that Philippians 4:6-7 as one of their favorite passages in the Bible. I believe it is because it address that inner need we have for peace.

We may have our reptilian physical needs and urges, but deep inside each of us is the soul’s longing for peace.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understand, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)