With school starting, you may notice some subtle changes in your child’s personality. These
changes could be due to stress and anxiety related to going back to
school, starting at a new school, the transition from elementary to junior high
or from junior high to high school, making new friends, or trying out for
sports.
Stress and anxiety is fairly common in children, with 10-20% of
school-aged children experiencing anxiety symptoms daily, especially during
those last weeks of summer. Here are a few quick tips you can do to help reduce
your child’s anxiety and stress levels.
Encourage your child to face his/her fears, not
run away from them.
Avoiding a stressful
situation actually sustains that feeling of anxiety or fear rather than
diminishing it. If a child faces his or her fears, the child will learn that
the anxiety reduces naturally on its own over time. Your anxiety will reduce
within 20-45 minutes if you stay in the anxiety-provoking situation.
Teach your child that it is okay to be
imperfect.
Often we feel that it is
necessary for our children to succeed in sports, school, and in performance
situations, but, it is important to remember that our children succeed at different
levels and in different ways. Sometimes we forget that kids need to be kids.
Often, school becomes driven by grades and a perfect score instead of by
enjoyment of learning and what was actually learned. This is not to say that striving to succeed is not important. It
is important to encourage your child to work hard but equally as important to
accept and embrace your child’s mistakes and imperfections.
Schedule relaxing activities.
Sometimes fun activities,
like sports, can become more about success than they are about fun. Try to
engage your children in activities purely for the sake of fun. This may include
scheduling time each day for your child to play with toys, play a game, or play
a sport without being competitive. Be involved with your kid’s playtime. Do
yoga, paint, have a tea party, put on a play, or just be silly!
Reward your child’s brave behaviors.
When your child faces his or
hers fears, reward with a high-five, a hug, praise, or even something tangible
like a small toy or treat. This is not to be used as bribery. If you reward
brave behaviors, your child will engage in them more often.
Encourage your child to express his/her
anxiety.
When your child says that he
or she is worried or scared, rather than just saying “you’ll be okay” or
“you’re fine” encourage them to explain why they’re scared and make it a
conversation where you can offer them advice and work out the anxiety together.
This will help your child to avoid the idea that you may not care about or
understand their feelings.
Never give up!
Anxiety and stress can be a
chronic struggle but with repetition of anxiety and stress management
techniques, your child will learn how to lower his or her anxiety level and how
to cope with stressful situations. Repetition is key! Have a regular sleep
schedule and keep a plan of how to handle stressful situations. Remember to
manage your own stress also. Kids tend to follow the actions of their parents
so it is easy to see your own stresses in your kids.
What strategies have you used in calming
back-to-school jitters?
