Now is the time for parents to prepare their children for school by filling shopping carts with supplies and having them stand still long enough to try on new clothes.
According to experts and educators, many children might not look forward to returning to school because of anxiety and stress.
Children entering any grade may have to deal with those feelings, but for students going into grade eight and stepping through the doors of Brooks Secondary School for the first time, the experience can be magnified.
New routines, teachers, friends and social situations are all waiting inside.
“Mostly, the comments we get from them are they’re nervous about finding their way around the building, having different teachers and changing classes,” said Brooks counsellor Jocelyn Williams.
After having one familiar teacher throughout each elementary school year, a child will have to adjust and deal with several. Brooks has designed its structure for the younger grades so that adjustment will be gradual for grades eights and nines over their first two years.
“Rather than having eight different teachers for all the subjects, grade eights are going to have one teacher for math and science and one for English and social studies, so that will limit the number of teachers they have to four or five,” said Williams. “We’re hoping that will help build stronger relationships and lower the anxieties of students; that will be a good thing.”
Stress can also be caused by something many people would consider minor, such as facing a locker and not remembering its combination. Williams said younger students can also become anxious about misconceptions regarding older students.
For those situations, Brooks has Link Crew, where older students mentor younger students and smooth their entries into the school. According to Williams, younger students then see that older students are not intimidating but fun, involved and wanting to help. Through the crew, they have someone to ask where the library is, or what time lunch is over, she said.
According to Child, Youth and Mental Health team leader Pat Rycroft, an area parents and educators have to be more mindful of is the use of the Internet and “media trends that kids are much more aware of these days and things that go on in social media; those bring additional worries.”
Rycroft said social media covers trends in outfits, makeup, who is seeing who and who might be causing harm.
“Bullying can certainly go on in social media, but it can go on interpersonally as well,” said Rycroft. “That has not gone away and if you’ve been bullied before, you’re going to worry if it is going to happen again.”
According to Rycoft, signs a parent can be mindful of that might indicate their child is experiencing stress and anxiety include trying to stay home from school, avoiding school, not going to school on certain days, refusing to eat at school, lunch coming home uneaten, not using a public washroom, withdrawing or refusing to participate in favourite activities and even changes in personality.
According to Williams, school stress and anxiety is not just felt by children. Parents deal with it and it is mostly caused by communication concerns and determining answers to several questions, she said.
“How will I best communicate with my child’s teachers?” said Williams. “How will I know if my son or daughter is falling behind in their work? How can I help them to get involved with things at the school and how will I know what the homework is? That’s a big one.”
Williams added the best way to alleviate those concerns is for parents to keep talking with their children.
