Instead of viewing spirituality as the holiest or the highest, what if we considered it to be a foundational coping skill, a guide for every action in our lives?

That's just how the teachers at a unique program called Spirituality for Kids (SFK) view spiritual values--not as beliefs to adopt, but as skills to learn because they help us cope. They claim that spirituality can and should be taught; and that (in today's harsh world) the people most in need of it are children.

Currently offering their special training program to kids (all the way from New York's Lower Eastside to the Middle East), last week in New York City, a lively team of SFK teachers gave an assembly for adults hosted by designer Donna Karan at the Stephan Weiss studio in New York City. Donna herself is a SFK strong supporter.

"Simple activities can be so powerful and kids really get it," Donna told me. "As they add their bead to a necklace, they understand that this is my individual bead, but together with all the other beads, there's a necklace. We're connected and we need each other. Without the connection, there's no necklace."

At her event, panels alternated with exercises, giving adults a taste of the SFK approach. Lighting each other's candles to share the "inner light," dialoguing with one's inner "opponent," or learning that feeding one's neighbor was the way to receive nourishment oneself. It may sound silly but it was surprisingly moving even for the cynical among us.

For myself, I've spent countless hours in retreats, workshops, and practices, learning these kinds of lessons. But experiencing them in this embodied and playful way was both heart warming and team building. My classmates, adults some of whom regularly practice adult-style spirituality, felt the same way.

Karen Berg, the founder of SFK, (whose husband directs the Kaballah Center) views the program as the vehicle to "give the gift of interconnection."

"Schools emphasize the skills of reading and writing," she told the assembly. "But the skills that endow emotional intelligence are equally vital. You carry them into life."

A recent Rand Corporation study conducted by policy analyst, Sarah Gaillot, found that the SFK's offerings produce tangible benefits, building in young people four key areas of resilience: in social skill, self-esteem, sense of purpose, and problem solving. Those skills are crucial for all children; but they are especially vital for children facing great duress.

In Malawi, one million AIDS orphans have grown up stigmatized, nursing sick parents, and living under the cloud of their parents' immanent death. Sylvia Namakhwa, a Malawian who directs the SFK program in her country told the group that she viewed SFK as a life-saver for the kids she teaches.

"Before SFK, the kids regularly wound up on the streets or in prisons. It was every man for himself. Now they have a way to cope, and a reason to join together."

In her world, spirituality is not high minded, but practical. With the resilience they develop through experiencing SFK, Namakhwa's Malawian youngsters are more likely to stay in the shelters where they can receive the minimal food and social services, rather than taking to crime.

So--why should kids learn to be spiritual? To cope with the world we adults have created or allowed to be. When the day comes that we've create a social and global order based on spiritual values like connection, inclusion, and sharing, then hopefully children can learn to be spiritual just by watching us.

For more information on SFK, please go to: SFK.org. To join the Better Health Campaign, please sign up at: www.Health-Journalist.com For more on Donna Karan's initiatives, go to www.urbanzen.org