Causes of Anxiety in the Classroom
These days, anxiety is a huge problem for many children. It can be observed in many different situations. Too often that includes when the child is brought to school. If you see that your child dreads going to school and is having a hard time interacting with other children for a long period of time, your child may well be suffering from excessive anxiety. Causes of anxiety in the classroom vary from one child to another. As with many things, both nature and nurture are involved. That is, some children by their unique temperament are more prone to anxiety, while circumstances in a child’s life are also definitely a factor.
Genetic Background and Anxiety
One study suggests that anxiety can be transmitted by parents to a child. So if a child’s parents are suffering from this kind of disorder, there is a possibility for the child to have anxiety as well. Children with anxiety can be treated more easily if the parents are the ones who will help their child. But it will not be possible if the parents who are supposed to help their child are also suffering from anxiety. That is why most of the genetic cases of anxiety among children frequently require outside advice and help.
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You should also be aware that just because something is common in families doesn’t mean that it’s “in the genes” and nothing can be done about it. Children naturally tend to model and learn from their parents. If the parents never had an opportunity to develop successful coping skills it’s not surprising that the child won’t either. That’s where appropriate coaching can help the entire family.
Bullies and Anxiety in the Classroom
Children are supposed to be happy at school, because learning should be fun and school gives them a chance to socialize and meet new friends. But unfortunately, not all children can enjoy being at school because there are some other kids bullying them. Bullying can be one of the causes of anxiety in the classroom. Most of the targets are the children who don’t have many friends so that there would be no one to help them. As a result, children who are being bullied will be afraid to go to school.
While bullies have their own psychological problems, I’m most concerned about the effect on the child that the victim of bullying. A child is often very reluctant to talk about this issue so the parent needs to be aware of the possibility and pursue actively if they notice at change in their child’s attitude toward school or their anxiety level.
The Teacher Effect
At school, teachers are rule their students and children are supposed to obey the teacher no matter what he/she will tell them to do. Meeting a teacher for the first time in a child’s entire life can make a big difference to their opinion about teachers.
If a child meets a teacher who is extremely kind, he will assume that all of the teachers that he will meet later on are as kind as the first one he met. But if he meets a cruel teacher who rules the classroom as a tyrant, someone of the “spare the rod, spoil the child” mindset, it can cause fear and anxiety for the child.
That’s why teachers should make sure that they would make a good first impression in order to make all their students feel comfortable with them for the entire school year. If they don’t, children will just find it scary to interact with ALL teachers even if only few of them are cruel.
Perfectionism and Anxiety
Some children create anxiety for themselves by having unrealistic expectations about being perfect at everything. Some parents make it even worse. I’ve seen one parent look at a child’s grade of 95 and instead of praising and supporting them for this excellent performance, asked them “where are the other 5 points”. While this is probably intended to encourage excellence its effect was probably the opposite. At the least, it was likely to make the child more anxious.
While it’s good to have high standards, there should also be an understanding that no one is perfect all the time. Mastering any knowledge base or skill requires effort and often repetition. If a child’s performance is less than they desire, they should understand that it’s nothing to be anxious about. It just means that they need to do something differently. Perhaps they simply need to study more, or get clarification about what they’re unsure of from their teacher.
Not having friends in the first day of school can also be one of the causes of anxiety in the classroom among children. Kids will enjoy school much better if there are some others kids for them to interact with. But if a child fails to make friends as early as he can, it’ll be hard for him to make one later on. If the child is moving to a new school, it’s very helpful if they can meet some of the kids before the first day of class. Very often schools will have programs to facilitate that so you definitely should ask.
