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What parents can do if their child is stressed about exams

More and more is expected of children. They have to perform, exercise well, interact with others in a nice way. With an exam just around the corner, it can all become too much. Parents can support their children during the exam by reminding them of the relativity. But parents can also guide their offspring through exam time by ensuring they get good food.

Children increasingly feel that they have to perform

Children increasingly feel that they have to perform and they have that feeling from an early age. Some children are only 8 or 9 years old when they already realize that they have to get high grades to get a good job later.

Final exams cause a lot of headaches

While regular tests are difficult for many children, during exams children have to fully prove themselves. That is why many of them call helplines at that time. It emerges that they are concerned about the results they have achieved, or that they are still going to achieve. They also often suffer from:

  • Headache
  • Stomach ache
  • Sleep problems

 

Were exams in the past less difficult than they are now?

No, exams used to be no less difficult than they are now. But there was probably more time for the child to relax. The child could still be a normal child between activities and that relieved the burden. Now everything often has to be fitted into schedules that demand a lot from the young person. Because every child has a maximum of two activities a week that he or she has to participate in, and some have as many as five. This puts extra pressure.

Child concerns: children deal with stress differently than adults

Children respond to stress in much the same way as adults, but they deal with it differently. Adults often know where their feeling of restlessness, fatigue or agitation comes from, but children are often unable to make that connection. Moreover, they have no choice. An adult can decide to say goodbye to that one stressful job, but a child doesn’t have that choice. Even older children are often unable to make changes in their lives to feel less stressful. This is because most decisions are made for them and they do not make them themselves. All this often comes out as a very negative feeling.

What determines stress in a child?

How a child deals with stress is obviously also determined by other factors. This has to do, among other things, with:

  1. Personality
  2. Self image
  3. Expectations of parents and children themselves
  4. The amount of stress in their lives

 

When does a child have stress – the symptoms?

Because a child often cannot indicate when he is experiencing stress, it is good as a parent to keep an eye on this. The symptoms of stress in a small child are often:

  • Stomach ache
  • Can not sleep

 

Teenagers who are stressed

Teenagers who suffer from stress often suffer from:

  • Headache
  • They withdraw

 

What can parents do if their child is stressed (exams)?

Parents who show understanding and tell their child that whatever happens is okay, do the most to relieve their child’s stress. It is important to remember that as the results date approaches, the child may experience increasing stress because he or she does not know the outcome of the exam. During the exams themselves, a certain degree of stress is good, because it means that the child often performs best without really being bothered by what is happening. It is also important that the emphasis is not always placed on the need to perform. A parent who indicates that they are proud when the child is doing well is something completely different from a parent who threatens with all kinds of sanctions if things do not go well. Encourage the child, but also guide him. Give compliments if he or she has been working all evening and occasionally bring something tasty to relax. Do not sit with the child for hours if you notice that this makes the child anxious. Leave it alone if it needs that tension. If the child wants the exact opposite, then offer that.

Indicate that failing a final exam is not the end of the world

Failure is not the end of the world. That is a truism, but a child who is taking exams sometimes does not realize that. Parents who share this with their struggling child can relieve some of the stress and make the child feel more relaxed about the exam.

After the exam: some time to relax

If a child has taken an exam, provide something tasty, talk to him or her about it, but don’t do it endlessly. And if the child doesn’t want to talk about it at all, then leave it alone. I’m sure there’s another exam waiting to happen. Let the child do his thing for a while. Whether that’s watching TV, playing music, shopping or exercising.

Talk to the child about anything and everything

Also talk to the child about other things during the exam period. Just about normal home, garden and kitchen things that concern everyone. So that not everything is about that exam and there is also an ordinary life. By talking about ordinary things, the child has the opportunity to express that he is having a hard time or that he needs something different. For example, an afternoon at the movies can do wonders.

Practical matters that parents can use to help with an exam

Parents can also arrange very practical matters for their child who is taking an exam. These include:

  1. Provide a good study place for the child
  2. Let this period take precedence over other things, adjust the schedule of others to that of the child who has to take the exam
  3. Provide a tidy place where the child can sit down and immediately get clean
  4. Provide good nutrition that will help the child get through the days as best as possible (provide proteins, fruits and vegetables and carbohydrates so that the brain does not become exhausted. A tasty reward after the exam also gives the child the feeling that he or she has done well. Also make sure you have a good breakfast). Fish oil is said to be good for the memory, so a good dose of it is not unwise
  5. Make sure that the child continues to exercise or exercise. When stressed, exercise is really indispensable because it reduces the adrenaline. Exercising also makes someone physically tired and that often leads to better sleep.
  6. Make sure the child is not learning all the time. No one has that kind of attention span.