Students are more anxious than ever. What to look for and strategies to mange anxiety.
The COVID-19 pandemic has seismically altered the education landscape. Most schools offer a variety of learning options: in the physical classroom, virtual school, or some version of a hybrid-learning environment with students in their homes using computers to log into the day’s lessons. Most students have participated in more than one of these delivery options during the past year.
Couple in all the unknowns floating around – How long will the pandemic last? When will I get the vaccine? Will I still remember how to socialize appropriately in a group setting? And when will things return to normal? – and it is a recipe for anxious thoughts and behaviors.
Many students are struggling to manage their anxious thoughts. 1 in every 8 students has anxiety, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) and 80% of children with anxiety and 60% of children with depression are not receiving treatment.
And these numbers are before the pandemic hit! One can imagine these statistics have grown exponentially over the past year.
Types of Anxiety
The Child Mind Institute does a good job of describing the different types of anxiety a student may wrestle with:
Separation: A child is worried about separating from a parent or caregiver.
Social: A student is excessively self-conscious during interactions with peers.
Selective mutism: A child has a difficult time speaking in some settings, such as the classroom.
Generalized: The student worries about a wide variety of every day things.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): The child’s mind is filled with unwanted and stressful thoughts. To alleviate the anxiety, the child engages in compulsive behaviors like washing their hands.
Specific phobias: These are excessive irrational fears of particular things such as the dark or being left alone.
Any one of these types of anxiety can affect classroom behavior, academic performance, and or social interactions. Ken Schuster, PsyD says “anxiety locks up the brain, making school hard for anxious kids.”
How Anxiety Might Impact a Student
No matter the type of anxiety a student is struggling with, it will affect their ability to learn. Anxiety in the Classroom describes three ways:
- Difficulty taking in information – a student may have difficulty paying attention to what needs to be learned.
- Information is not processed properly – students only receive a surface level understanding of material because their cognitive abilities are over-taxed.
- Information is not stored in long-term memory – If a student cannot recall previously learned information, they will not do well on exams.
If a student cannot focus in class, is not learning all of the intended lessons, and is not storing any of the material, then clearly the student will exhibit some anxious behaviors.
What Anxiety Looks Like in the Classroom
Anxiety can present itself in any number of ways. In fact, it often “looks” like something else, such as ADHD. Some common behaviors:
- student is easily agitated
- asks repetitive questions
- complains of headaches and or upset stomach
- has inconsistent attendance
- inconsistent completion of homework and or classwork
Clearly these are just a sampling of possible behaviors an anxious student may exhibit. Fortunately there are effective strategies to help a student dealing with anxiety.
How to Help an Anxious Student
The website Understood.org does a wonderful job offering resources to parents of children with learning differences. What follows are a few of their suggested accommodations that may help an anxious student.
- Allow the student to keep a self-calming object at their seat. This could be a family photo or small stuffed animal.
- Provide opportunities for the student to see the guidance counselor or other appropriate staff member when they are feeling anxious.
- Give the student preferential seating in the classroom. Some children are more comfortable in the back of the room, just for example.
- The teacher can provide a “break pass” to allow the student to walk the hall and perhaps get a drink of water.
- The teacher can provide the student with advanced notice of transitions and any schedule changes.
- The teacher or another staff member can check-in frequently with the student to take an “emotional temperature” check.
Phyllis Fagell, a school counselor in Washington D.C., says that some students may not know that they are anxious and that they may need help recognizing triggers and developing coping strategies.
In addition to the above strategies to help an anxious student, Fagell suggests two more techniques.
- Use mindfulness – For example, a student can hold a small object in their hand and think of three adjectives for it. Or, they can identify all the sounds they hear in the classroom.
- Write in a gratitude journal – The brain is incapable of producing anxious thoughts while it is producing positive thoughts stemming from gratitude. For more ideas about starting a gratitude practice, check out this article on our website.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that anxiety in students is increasing. The pandemic has magnified the amount of anxiety and the sheer number of students wrestling with it. Once a student recognizes he or she is suffering with anxious thoughts, there are many effective strategies that can help bring the brain back into a calmer state. Students who manage their anxiety are better prepared to learn and provide themselves an invaluable set of tools they can use for the rest of their lives. If you feel like your child’s learning is being impacted by anxious thoughts and are looking for guidance, please contact Engage the Brain to speak with a Learning Specialist.