What To Do When Your Kid Suffers Anxiety and Stress From School

As our education standard rises, so is the demand from our kids today. This can really have a toll on them and they might suffer from stress and anxiety. It might not be too obvious but it is quite real that kids as young as those in kindergarten and most especially in primary school face a lot of academic activities that might affect them physically at times. All kids are not the same and some may be facing quite a hard time coping with all of the academic requirements and lessons or even adjusting to the class they are in.

Many experts have stated that our kids today are under more stress than those of the previous generations. In 2011, an article in the American Journal of Play, researcher Peter Gray found kids have to spend much more time on school and adult-directed activities than their parents or grandparents did. There are a lot of expectations from kids these days and a lot of standards set for their educational achievement to each grade that they complete. For example, kindergarten kids are expected to be able to read by the end of the year compared to previous years. Kids can get diagnosed with ADHD as early as when as they are in kindergarten. They get easily distracted by the things they see around them and feel anxious when they sit still for too long alone. At times teachers may not understand these situations and demand a lot from their pupils, these can add to the kids’ stress and at the end of the day, the kid can develop an anxiety disorder.

Parents too can contribute to their kids stress unknowingly by involving them in so many activities. As their work increases so do their stress levels for both parents and students. The stress is having an imminent effect on kid’s health both physically and mentally. When it comes to the standardized test, kids anxiety can particularly grow higher and this results in bad or poor grades. Some of the effects of the stress are lack of sleep, restlessness and when the test actually starts, the kid may just shut down.

Regardless of the fact that we want our kids to handle all kinds of stressful situations in careers, relationships and other life-related scenarios, too much stress may have the opposite lesson on a kid. When kids are overscheduled, it becomes very hard for them to focus on the books alone and they struggle with all the other activities. Take an example where, a kid has other activities apart from school to go to, things like dance, basketball, and karate. Having skipped to a more demanding class finds it hard to come up with these other activities and begins to stress out. Has no time for home works and finds no pleasure in whatever she does due to exhaustion. Kids with tight schedules as these end up suffering from stomach aches and other physical ailments that only seem to come up at homework time or test.

What parents can do to help their kids so that they succeed and do not let the stress weigh them down. Here are the steps that parents can follow to make their kids less stressful:

1. Learn to recognize the signs of anxiety

In young children, some of the physical signs can be like headaches, stomach aches, school refusal. At times anxious kids may also avoid things that they used to like, they may also struggle with school work or shy away from more complex concepts. They may also throw tantrums at homework time or anything that is related to school activities. This is their way of showing how frustrated they are of losing control.

2. Help kids recognize their own anxiety symptoms

Talk to your kid and help him or her come to terms with their situation. Tell them what is happening to them and let them express themselves too and tell you how and what they feel. Once you both have an understanding, teach him how to control the effects of the stress whenever he comes under stress or pressure. For instance, you could tell him to sit back in his chair and lose his eyes and take a few deep breaths, or raise his hands and ask to go take a walk. Sometimes his teacher will send him on a simple errand to go deliver a note to another teacher; these things help him to put his stress under control.

3. Encourage frequent breaks and downtime

As a parent trying to find a spot or place whether your kid could go to calm down. Let your kid know it is for them, a place where they take a break and get their emotion back in control. Make sure that you create time to play, your kid will always be a kid and playing is one of the ways to reduce stress.

4. Be realistic about what is manageable

If you know that your kid suffers from stress and anxiety do not let them get involved in anything that will cause stress. Regardless of your expectation and wishes, your kid is first and they are to be considered before any other thing. Do not let them participate in activities that would add up to their stress.

5. Watch the clock at homework time

Parents should not put too much time on homework. Learn to take breaks in between the time of home works. You can put a time rule, like a ten minute rule or a twenty minute rule. Where your kid would not spend more than the minutes allocated for homework. Let your kid know the rule, and work with it. Try to talk to the teacher if the homework takes too long to scale down on the amount of work given to him or her. Some teachers are happy to work with parents to help the kid achieve while some won’t but in that case, you can go to the principal or the board be your kids advocate and fight for the best for them.

6. Change your mindset and your child’s

Teach your kid that it is alright to make mistakes. That they do not need to be perfect and that they can do better as that it is how we grow. Let them see that you do not demand too much from them and always praise them for the efforts that they make.

7. Seek counseling if necessary

If you have tried everything you can to reduce your kid’s stress and it still persists, you can still seek for help. Ask your pediatrician to recommend a local therapist. A good therapist can work with your child to help him or manage stress and reduce anxiety symptoms. A good therapist can work with your child to help him or her manage stress and reduce anxiety symptoms.

In conclusion, always do what is best for your child. Give them all the love and attention and make sure that they have the opportunity to be the best they can. Do not let anything discourage them and remember they can do it with your help.