How to deal with school stress?
More and more children suffer from school stress, which can be caused by too much pressure to perform or too little relaxation. Find out more about the causes and signs of school stress here and find out how you can help your child with school stress.
Causes of school stress
According to a representative survey by the German Child Protection Association (DKSB) and the Prosoz Institute, the results of which were published in November 2012, around a third of all primary school children between the ages of seven and nine feel stressed about school. School stress can have many different causes. For example, the following things can trigger school stress:
- Strong pressure to perform
- Too high demands
- Fear of bad grades
- bullying at school
- Too little free time and relaxation
- Inefficient learning methods
- unsuitable type of school
- Problems in family or friends
Recognize the effects and signs of school stress
Too much school stress can have a negative impact on your child’s mental and physical health. The difficulty for parents is to distinguish harmful school stress from normal stress just before deadlines or tests. Every child reacts differently to stress. However, if you observe some of the following signals in your child in connection with school, school stress may be the cause:
- sleep disorders
- headache
- stomach pain
- Back pain from tension
- tiredness and exhaustion
- Excessive movement and physical restlessness
- concentration problems
- aggressiveness
- motivation problems
- Sudden deterioration in school grades
- loss of appetite
- Overeating
- Frequent nightmares
- Social isolation, breaking off of contacts
Help with school stress
If your child is suffering from school stress, you should try to talk to your child calmly. Offer him help and try to find out the causes of the problems at school together. Because if you want to do something about the school stress, you have to get the reasons for it out of the way. Maybe a fixed learning plan or private tutoring will help to get the school stress under control. You should also seek contact with your child’s teachers, because they may be able to give you valuable tips for additional support.
prevent school stress
The best way to prevent school stress is to give your child relaxation and free time. If a strict afternoon program with homework, music lessons, language courses and competitive sports follows directly after school, your child will not have the opportunity to switch off. But you should also consider the following things if you want to avoid unnecessary school stress for your child:
- Provide a stable social environment
- Exercise in the fresh air and a healthy diet
- Sport relieves stress; this does not apply to competitive sports
- A fixed daily routine offers structure and security
- Keep school supplies in order
- Enough sleep
- Start studying in good time before class work
- Consoling, not punishing, bad grades
- Maintain contact with teachers and attend counseling appointments
Your child should always have the feeling that you support them and that they are allowed to make mistakes. Signal that you take your child first and always have an open ear for their concerns and problems. You can find more tips against school stress and relaxation exercises for school children in our article “Relaxation for children” .