The excitement of a new school year is most commonly accompanied by something less talked about back to school anxiety. Students may become scared, nervous, or panicked when schools re-open after long holidays or unexpected closure. Though school reopening anxiety is unavoidable, but any without intervention it can damage a child confidence, social adjustment, and academic performance.

Let’s learn how to help children with back-to-school anxiety, helping them in making it easy and stress-free to return to school.

What is back to school anxiety and why do children face it?

There are numerous reasons that can lead to school reopening anxiety :

Change in routine: Having been out of routine, it becomes difficult to adjust to early morning wake-up, homework, and school routine.

Separation anxiety: Younger students, especially after a time away from home, will fret over not being at home.

School pressure: Fretting over keeping up with classes, exams, or previous poor grades can lead to too much school anxiety.

Social concerns: Fretting over having friends, bullying, or being liked generates emotional stress.

Uncertainty: New teachers, new peers, or even new school environments add layers of the unknown.

Empowering these root causes is what allows teachers and caregivers to make better plans in order to help students cope.

Symptoms of School Reopening Anxiety

A certain level of jitteriness is unavoidable, but there are signs that a student is suffering from internal school reopening anxiety. Watch out for:

• • Sleep patterns or loss of appetite

• • Complaining of frequent headache or stomach-ache or other health related issues

• • Irritability, moodiness, throwing tantrums or excessive crying

• • Social withdrawal

• • Resistant to talking about school

Tips for parents to help children with school reopening anxiety

1. Hear Them Out

Avoid dismissing the fear with reassuring platitudes like “You will be okay,” and hear them out. Hearing them out validates their experiences and makes them feel understood and heard.

2. Gradual Preparation

Start to change bedtime, wake-up times, and meal schedules at least a week before school reopens. If possible, take them to school with you, get them through classes, and have them see what will be occurring.

3. Assure, Don’t Pressure

Children often feel a school reopening pressure before rejoining the school. Here, parents can help their kids by not placing unrealistic expectations on their kids and assuring them that it does a little time to get adjusted to the new year of school.

4. Establish a Supportive Morning Routine

Mornings create the tone for the day. Establish a calm, organized start with positive affirmations, a healthy breakfast, and some quality time, even a minute or two.

5. Establish Small Social Interactions

Plan some play dates, video calls, or activities with their school friends before school reopens. Friends can go a long way in reducing school reopening stress.

6. Teach Relaxation Skills

Teach the child techniques like deep breathing, visualization (imagining a good day at school), or even stretching which are excellent nerves-soothing aids.

7. Highlight the Positives

Talk about the positives of school new learning materials, new friends, cool subjects, exciting activities, and events.

8. Professional Help

If worry is debilitating or persists beyond the first few weeks, consult school counsellors, psychologists, or paediatricians.

Role of Teachers in reducing School Reopening Anxiety

Teachers play a crucial role in easing back to school anxiety among young children. Teachers can help them with the following:

• • Use icebreakers such as organizing the school’s reopening day as a welcome-back day where kids only play and have fun and don’t study

• • Asking students about their vacations and share what they did

• • Offer channels for expression of emotions through art, writing, or telling stories

• • Being available and responsive to parents as well as to students who need extra concern and care

• • creating a positive and enjoyable environment on the first day of school reopening

When schools focus both, on the academics as well as emotional well-being of students, they feel safer, more secure, and are better able to learn and grow.

Back to school anxiety is a real problem, but with right intervention, parents’ and teachers’ support, children can overcome it and succeed. Home and school need to work together to make back to school a time of confidence, enthusiasm, and empowerment.

Remember that fighting fear of returning to school is not asking children to “get over it,” but helping them learn skills, receive affection, and gain support.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Is back-to-school anxiety normal?

Ans: It is very normal. The majority of students do feel some level of anxiety in the period up to the beginning of the New Year. It’s only a problem when anxiety significantly affects daily life.

Q2: How long does school re-opening anxiety last?

Ans: For the majority of children, it will take a few days until they rejoin their old classmates or make new friends. But if anxiety lasts for over a week or so, professional assistance might be needed.

Q3: What should parents do prior to the school-reopening day?

Ans: Parents can create a positive atmosphere by spending quality time with their child the day before school reopens. By sharing how proud they are of the child’s achievements and growth during the previous school year, they can boost the child’s confidence. This heartfelt encouragement can help ease anxiety and fill the child with courage and excitement for the new academic journey..

Q4: What are some things schools can do to assist students with coping with reopening school anxiety?

Ans: The schools can make arrangements for orientation programs, buddy systems, counselling facilities, and teacher sensitization to identify and respond to indicators of school anxiety.

Q5: When shall professional assistance be sought?

Ans: When the child is overwhelmed with intense emotional disturbance, doesn’t attend school, or his/her level of anxiety increases over a period, one must meet a child psychologist.