In today’s highly competitive world, there is competition in every field be it academic or sports or art or music, leading to stress amongst all ages of people. Even kids are subject to the stress in academics during their exams because there is a lot of pressure to match the expectations of parents and their peers. Though a certain amount of stress is always a good thing because it does help in a positive way in keeping up with the seriousness required with studies, stress that exceeds the permissible limits is certainly hazardous.
Causes
To know about the causes of stress in your child, communication with your child is the key. Though, there are few general factors that can cause stress. Here’s a run through –
Unpreparedness – If exam course is not complete and the child feels that the preparation is not adequate, it can cause stress. Apparently, it is most common cause of stress amongst children. This is not the result of exams but more of the culture in the families around exams and exam time. Since, childhood only the kids are time and again taught about the importance of exams and how marks hold a lot of significance in their lives.
Inferiority Complex – Many children experience stress due to their own beliefs and feelings. They see how other children fare in their exams and don’t want to feel inferior to them or there is a sense of competition as well in some children and hence then want to score high marks or have an ambition of topping. This can also lead to stress during examinations because they have set a bar for themselves and they have to work hard for it.
Parental Pressure – This pressure is one of the most influential ones and one of the main causes of anxiety, stress and depression around exam time in children. Particularly when it comes to board exams, Indian parents tend to freak out themselves and put immense pressure on children to score. Parents keep on comparing their kids with others in their colony or circle or apartment and expect them to score high marks inspite of the fact that every individual is unique and has different abilities.
Well, parents and kids as well need to know that everyone is gifted with unique ability and each one has different abilities as well. Some are good in academics while some in sports, some in music, some in craft and so on. So, if you are not performing well in academics, it does not mean that you are inferior to others or get stressed. Work hard but try to avoid stress because it will only hinder your learning ability. Parents also need to understand the fact and work with their kids in reducing exam stress of their kids and making them comfortable during exam time. Well, try out and see, it will only affect your kid positively and on a long run will improve your academic performance, your kid’s mental health as well as your relationship with the kid as well.
