Some kids' worries are rooted in a fear of the unknown, especially if they will be in a new building or a new school district. They also may be worried about making friends or have concerns about the workload and whether or not they have the skills needed to be successful. For students who spent months out of traditional in-person classrooms due to the COVID pandemic, going back to school may feel extra intimidating or even scary.
This may be especially true if they had classes online throughout the entirety of They might be worried about everything from wearing masks and being unvaccinated to wondering if they will still have the same friends after being gone so long.
They also may feel uncertain about what school will be like now and whether or not they will even know their way around. Sometimes, kids are anxious or worried about the upcoming school year because of experiences with bullies. For many kids, this time away from school was a welcome reprieve from mean behavior and cutting remarks.
So, as the new school year approaches, they may begin to worry that they will have to go through the same experiences again. Kids also might be stressed about appearance-related issues.
Other kids may worry about how others will view them especially if they have experienced weight changes, are now wearing glasses, have developed acne, or have recently gone through puberty. Other common stressors include having a falling-out with a close friend, getting cut from a sports team, dealing with a new learning environment, being assigned to a difficult teacher, and not getting into higher-level courses.
There are countless reasons why kids may experience anxiety and stress as the first day of school approaches. Their reasons are as unique as they are.
COVID continues to top the list of reasons why kids are experiencing increased anxiety and stress. Many kids and teens are experiencing feelings of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty as they struggle to come to terms with the continued experience of living through the pandemic.
Even as many parts of life are opening up and returning to "normal," kids may still be harboring fears. It's not uncommon for people—including young people—to struggle with psychosocial issues following outbreaks of infectious diseases. For instance, a study of the aftermath of an Ebola outbreak found that an increased number of people reported experiencing mental health issues like anxiety and depression. Meanwhile, another study conducted following the outbreak of the swine flu found that children receiving mental health care are particularly psychologically vulnerable to epidemics like COVID Many of the things that contributed to kids' budding identities have been stripped from them due to the pandemic—and figuring out how to readjust to life back in the classroom is stressful.
Not only have they been limited in terms of who they can see and spend time with, but they also have had to deal with grief over many of their favorite activities being canceled. Likewise, many families have experienced increased economic hardship or uncertainty due to the pandemic. Both of these scenarios can leave kids feeling stressed and anxious. Even if these situations don't apply to your family, your kids may know someone who has had these experiences.
Naturally, these realities or simply worrying they may happen can create a lot of stress, which some kids may direct into anxiety about going to school. Most kids also are trying to process the information they overhear or see on social media about the risks associated with getting sick from the coronavirus.
This information—some of which may be inaccurate—may cause them to worry about getting COVID and passing it on to the people they love. Even as we emerge from the worst of COVID in the United States, kids may be hearing about the new variants to the disease and wondering how that will impact them, their families, and their friends. Questions about vaccine safety and who is vaccinated and who isn't also may bring stress.
Particularly, kids who are younger than 12—who are not eligible for the vaccine—may worry that they are unprotected and may get sick. It also recommends that schools promote vaccines, as vaccinations are the leading strategy to end the pandemic. These include having unvaccinated kids and adults wear masks indoors and still maintaining three feet of separation in classrooms.
Other safety precautions include screening, proper ventilation, hand-washing, cleaning and disinfection, and respiratory etiquette. Even with all of these safety precautions, kids may still experience stress and anxiety. While it may be disconcerting to see your child's stress and anxiety levels rise as the school year approaches—especially after the hard year they just came through—it's also important to know that these feelings are not uncommon.
Be on the lookout for anxiety and stress. And make sure you are doing what you can to help alleviate uncomfortable feelings. While anxiety regarding returning to school is common, it's also not something that should be ignored. For this reason, you need to be able to identify when your kids are struggling with stress and anxiety.
When kids are anxious, they may not know how to put their feelings into words. Instead, look for clues in their behavior. Kids who are experiencing anxiety may:. If your child's anxiety lasts longer than two weeks and interferes with their daily life, this could be a sign of an anxiety disorder. Talk to your child's doctor about your concerns. Untreated anxiety puts kids at risk for poor school performance, difficulty maintaining friendships, and even depression.
And as kids get older, untreated anxiety can even lead to substance abuse. The best way to address stress and anxiety is often simply to encourage your child to talk to you about what is troubling them. Listen without judgment and validate their feelings. Sometimes, expressing their feelings is all a child needs to feel better. Another great way to ease some of your child's anxiety about going back to school is to get your home ready for the transition.
Strategies such as planning school lunches ahead of time or establishing a comfortable homework area can help make kids feel more in control and relieve some of their anxious feelings. As the school year approaches, it's important to help your child feel more comfortable about their new school environment. One of the things that can cause back-to-school anxiety for kids is not knowing what to expect.
This unfamiliarity may be inevitable, especially if there are new rules and guidelines as schools continue to adjust to pandemic cases and guidelines.
Take the time to help your child prepare for how things might be different. Help them become more acclimated to new routines and unfamiliar surroundings by talking through what they might expect to see. Try to have a healthy lifestyle. Eat well , get enough sleep , be physically active find out more about getting active , cut down on alcohol , and take time to relax as well as working and studying. Read about the 5 steps to mental wellbeing. Avoid drugs, including lots of caffeine - this can have a negative impact on your stress levels and wellbeing.
Try not to worry about the future or compare yourself with others. Try relaxation and breathing exercises. Try to plan your time to help you keep track of your work. Break it down into manageable chunks so you can keep up with deadlines.
Try talking to a friend, tutor or someone in your family about your stress. Read about how to cope with the stress of exams. More information For more tips on beating stress, check out these 10 stress busters. Find out more about anxiety, fear and panic. With the pressure to get into a good college or studying for school, stress has become a health epidemic in high schools around the country. But if you begin feeling physically sick, you should start changing your lifestyle. Have a good time, live healthier, rethink your approach to school, and learn to manage your time.
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Download Article Explore this Article methods. Related Articles. Method 1. Know when your stress has become unhealthy. Some stress can be a good thing; it encourages us to work harder and perform under high pressure situations. However, too much stress can begin to hurt our health and make it harder for us to perform. A good sign that you have become overly stressed is that you can no longer bounce back. It makes sense to be stressed the night before a test. But, if you are still stressed when you come back home to spend time with your friends, then you have a problem.
Reframe your perspective. You should take some time off to try to rethink the way that you look at your situation. Try to find a more positive way to look at your situation.
If you are struggling with AP classes, for example, remember that you are still a high schooler dealing with college level work. If bad grades get you down remember that it is only one assignment and that you will get a chance to make it up. Focusing on the negative will only keep you down and prevent you from excelling in the future.
Talk to the school counselor if you believe that your grades might be too low for you to meet you life goals. The counselor can tell you whether you are on track. If you are not on track, the counselor might be able to give you some suggestions as to how to catch up.
Alternatively, the counselor can also point you toward other career paths commensurate with your interests and abilities. Talk to your parents. Talking to your parents might be the last thing most of us want to do in high school, especially if they are contributing to our anxiety.
Sometimes, without meaning it, they put pressure on us to excel and push us further than we can manage. Hopefully, if you mention how you feel to them, they will adjust the way they talk to you.
If our parents are aware of how we feel, they can become important partners in coping with stress. Parents can help us fix our schedules. Furthermore, getting them to commit to a quite household during homework time can make it easier to concentrate on finishing our assignments.
Method 2. Draw out a schedule. Get a planner and write down all of your obligations. Start by blocking out fixed obligations like school and club meetings. Figure out when you will work on each of your assignments and try to leave some time to relax. You will find it progressively harder to concentrate as the day goes on.
Clubs and sports can be a source of stress as much as they are a source of entertainment. You should have some unstructured time to do nothing, should you choose to. Start big projects early.
If you know there is a test coming up, study a little every day. Putting large assignments off to the last second is a recipe for stress. Schedule to have these projects complete several days in advance.
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