The world seems like a stressful place right now for children. Students everywhere have experienced a tumultuous couple of school years as they have been dealing with an ever-evolving global pandemic that has caused rapid and broad changes to the way our culture thinks about academics.
Teachers and students have had to adjust to learning social distancing, remote learning, wearing masks, playing sports without audiences, and so on. Meanwhile, the effects of social media and being inundated with bad news can take their toll on each child’s psyche.
Of course, this is all on top of the typical struggles of being a student, like homework, studying, keeping deadlines, and navigating friendships. All of these external factors can exacerbate a child’s anxiety. The pressure to perform can overwhelm a student who struggles with anxious feelings.
In this article, we are providing parents with the information and resources they need to help a student with anxiety.
In this post, we will discuss:
- The Prevalence of Anxiety in Students
- The Importance of Identifying Anxiety and Seeking Help
- How to Set a Schedule
- Practicing Proper Nutrition, Exercise, and Rest
- Get Your Students Outdoors
- How Private School Helps
If you have additional questions about anxiety in students after reading this article, we would be happy to discuss this with you further.
1) The Prevalence of Anxiety in Students
Anxiety is, unfortunately, not uncommon for students.
Anxiety in children has climbed 17 percent since 2008, according to a report published in 2018 by the Child Mind Institute. We can only suppose that number has risen much higher since the start of the pandemic. Anxiety will afflict 30% of all children at some point in their life, yet the majority will go untreated.
Anxiety in students is often misinterpreted as stress or feelings of worry by parents. Our tendency may be to tell our children to worry less and be more positive, but for a child with anxiety they need more help than just our positive words.
Most people struggle with some anxiety, but the line between stress and anxiety disorder can be blurry. The Mayo Clinic describes anxiety disorder as unyielding and unrelenting worry and fear about typical situations and daily stress.
“These feelings of anxiety and panic interfere with daily activities, are difficult to control, are out of proportion to the actual danger, and can last a long time.”
For children, it is challenging to process these feelings, and they may not be able to express what they’re going through. It is vital for parents to look for signs of anxiety and provide the support they need.
2) The Importance of Identifying Anxiety and Seeking Help
Your student might merely be stressed about assignments and studying, or they might have anxiety. How can you tell? Some of the signs your child is struggling with anxiety include:
Signs Your Student Has Anxiety
- Irritability: You might be tempted to write off irritability as grumpiness, but if your child is frequently irritable, it could be a sign of prolonged anxiety.
- Insomnia: If your child can’t sleep, it’s not something to be ignored. They may not simply be a night owl, they might be unable to sleep for thoughts and feelings of panic.
- Clenched Jaw: If your child is frequently clenching their jaw and grinding their teeth, it could be a sign of anxiety.
- Poor Diet and Exercise: Anxious children may not want to eat or seem to only want junk food. They may be less eager to go outside and exercise as well.
- Lack of Motivation: When children are anxious, they may not have the motivation you would expect from them to complete assignments.
- Poor Academic Performance: If your child is struggling with their academics, it is probably not due to lack of effort but anxiety.
If you have any suspicion your child is struggling with anxiety, seek help from a trained and licensed professional. They will be able to advise you on whether or not your child is dealing with common anxious feelings or anxiety disorder.
3) How to Set a Schedule
One of the keys to reducing the effects of anxiety is setting and keeping a schedule. Predictability and planning can help reduce stress and mitigate some of the factors that exacerbate anxiety.
Make sure you collaborate with your student when making the calendar. Assisting students in creating their own schedule provides them a greater sense of control over their schooling.
Creating a Calendar With Your Child
- Create a digital, cloud-based calendar that can be accessed from a variety of devices and email accounts. You can do this with iCal or Google Calendar.
- Make a physical copy of the calendar. Keep a hard copy of your calendar where you and your child can see it on a frequent basis. This could entail putting the calendar up in their specific workspace or in a shared area like the refrigerator.
- Use a visually-fun color-coding system for better engagement.
- Ensure that everything is recorded on the calendar. The last thing you want is for your child to feel defeated after completing all of their calendar tasks only to discover at school that they were missing an assignment.
- Make sure the calendar is not in itself stressful. Sometimes, dates and tasks need to be adjusted.
- Create a margin in your life by using your calendar. If every time slot is taken every week, you may need to have some difficult conversations about extracurricular activities, clubs, and other things that take up substantial amounts of time.
4) Practicing Proper Nutrition, Exercise, and Rest
If your child is fatigued, it will exasperate stress and anxiety. Stress and anxiety can make it difficult to rest and exacerbate fatigue. This cycle can be challenging for you and your child and difficult to break.
- Establish meal times and provide nutritious options.
- Limit junk food.
- Make sure your child has time to go outside.
- Consider joining a sports team.
- Exercise with your child.
Proper diet and exercise are good for your child’s body and brain.
5) Get Your Students Outdoors
The value of getting outside to help reduce the effects of anxiety cannot be understated. The sunshine and our beautiful landscape can go a long way toward easing feelings of stress and anxiety.
Of course, with anxiety disorder, your child may need more help than what the great outdoors can provide; however, they will certainly benefit from experiencing nature.
6) How Private School Helps
Private school provides a number of benefits to parents who want to provide a less stressful environment for their students.
- Private Christian schools point students to the gospel of Jesus, who paid it all.
- Private Christian schools provide a support network and community made of believers.
- Private Christian schools have smaller class sizes that allow teachers to provide individual attention for students who may be struggling. Smaller class sizes also help teachers watch for the signs of anxiety.
- Private Christian schools provide spiritual and emotional support for all students.
- Private Christian schools have parents who are involved in students' academic pursuits.
The support of private Christian school faculties and administrators is exactly what students need when they feel anxious.
Benefits of Private Christian Education for Students Who Struggle with Anxiety
St. Paul Lutheran School is a private school in Northville, Michigan. We have over six decades of experience helping students become the adults God created them to be. Our teachers believe each student is a Child of God gifted with the potential to achieve success.
Teachers at St Paul are dedicated to developing the whole student to become an independent learner. Our mission is to:
- TEACH children to serve God and others.
- EQUIP children with knowledge and skills for living.
- ACKNOWLEDGE each child's uniqueness.
- CREATE an active, Christ-centered learning environment.
- HONOR GOD through active church participation.
If you would like to know more about how our school helps students learn in an environment that reduces the factors that lead to increased anxiety, contact St. Paul Lutheran School in Northville, MI.