How Can I Help My Child When They Are Anxious About School?
It's hard to imagine that children could feel anxious. As adults, we associate anxiety as being caused by "grown-up" issues such as finances, jobs, or household responsibilities. With that said, though, it isn't uncommon for children to become stressed or anxious over different areas of their life.
One area that can definitely cause anxiety for children is school. Adults have a tendency to forget about how challenging the school years are. Before we talk about how to help your child with their anxiety revolving around school, let's go over the signs of anxiety in children as well as some reasons why they are anxious about it.
Signs Of Anxiety In Children
Anxiety manifests differently in children and teens than it would for an adult, although the premises are the same. Your child may be feeling anxious if they:
Complain frequently about stomach aches or headaches with no known causes
Avoidance of activities they normally enjoy
Difficulty falling or staying sleep
Delaying getting ready for school until the last possible second
Becoming irritable the closer it gets to school starting back up or at the end of a weekend or holiday break
Not doing school work or preparing for tests
Worrying about small issues in their life
Why Do Children Get Anxiety About School?
It might not seem like it, but children and adolescents juggle a lot when it comes to their school years.
Across all age groups, many children worry about making friends during the school year or fitting in with their peers. For older children, they may worry about bullying or being left out of activities with their friends on the weekends.
Homework and testing is another huge area that causes anxiety for children. Older teens may begin to worry about their grades and how they could impact getting into the college or tech school programs that they want. And, most who are in school will feel anxious when they don't understand an assignment or topic and they have a test coming up.
Then, there are the harder issues that children shouldn't have to worry about it, such as school shootings. Or body image. But, both, unfortunately, are a reality for many youths today.
How To Help Your Child With Anxiety Involving School
There are many more reasons why youth will worry about school. Thankfully, however, there are ways to help your children with their anxiety. In fact, that list is practically endless depending on your child. Here are great starting off points for you and your child to try together.
Keep Them On A Set Routine
If you find that your child or teen is not sleeping well at night during the school year, try to keep them on a set bedtime routine. This might seem overbearing to the older kids, but it really is in their favor. Try to enforce that by a certain time, they have showered with their clothes set out for the next day. For those with access to phones or electronics, set a strict enforcement rule that all devices must be off and in your presence by a certain time.
Encourage Time To Relax After School
Yes, they need to do their school work or household chores. But, if you think about the time between school let out and bedtime, it really is a short window. Many children find that coming straight home from school to do homework or chores is a bit overwhelming. Instead, encourage them to unwind for an hour after they get back in the house by doing something they like. Likewise, for their weekend time too!
Other Methods To Try
Help them to feel excited about school by encouraging them to get involved with a club or sport that they like.
Make sure they know that you notice when they did something such as completing their homework on time or getting a good grade on a test.
Don't come down too harshly when they don't ace a test or make a mistake. This will help them to build confidence in themselves as they grow up.
Knowing your child has anxiety over anything is hard to deal with as a parent. However, child therapy can help you and they learn to thrive to prepare for the years ahead. We are here to support you and them however we can, so don't hesitate to reach out.
