Children's Day 2022: How Can You Help Your Child Deal With School Stress

The increasing pressures of our modern lifestyle have predisposed our children to a variety of mental health concerns. Strive to adopt a healthy way to assist your loved ones in overcoming stress.

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Children’s Day or Bal Diwas is celebrated across the country on November 14. The day commemorates the birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister. Youngsters referred to him as Chacha Nehru, and he campaigned for a well-rounded education for children in order to develop a better society in the future. Jawaharlal Nehru saw children as the true strength of a nation and the cornerstone of the community. 

Prior to Pandit Nehru's death, India honoured Children's Day on November 20 – the day designated by the United Nations as World Children's Day. Following the death of India's first prime minister, his birth anniversary was chosen as the date for Children's Day.

The main issue prevalent in school-going children is "school stress." From kindergarten to high school, students face stress at school. Knowing what is causing your child's school stress is the first step toward assisting him or her in overcoming it. Take some time on Children's Day to think about how you might help your loved ones overcome stress.

Children are naturally programmed to grow and flourish. "As adults, we must facilitate their growth by providing kids with emotionally and physically safe spaces to thrive and evolve into happy, healthy, resilient, and compassionate people," says Prakriti Poddar, a dedicated mental health advocate, and the Global Head, Mental Health and Wellbeing, RoundGlass, a global Wholistic Wellbeing company.

However, the rising stressors of our contemporary lifestyle have made our children prone to various mental health issues.

"Globally, one in every seven youngsters aged 10 to 19 has a mental health condition. The frequency is predicted to be greater in India since over 26% of the population is between the ages of 0 and 14," she added. 

Like any other stress, school-related stress too can be managed by embracing well-being practices such as meditation and mindfulness, says Prakriti Poddar. As a mother of three school-going children, she is intimately familiar with mental well-being challenges faced by children and recommends the following to help them feel better and reduce their stress and anxiety:

1. Communication: Listening to them when they claim they have phantom headaches or tummy aches. Understand that as a sign to delve deeper into what is going on. Also, giving them a break from the routine is good practice. Let them feel heard and seen.
2. Practice Meditation and Mindfulness: These practices can be initiated early in life and have been shown to reduce stress and anxiety. Meditation and mindfulness can help children become calm, self-aware, and more confident in their skin. 
3. Be on the Move: The growing dependence of children on devices and technology especially social media has reduced their physical activity and has, thereby, impacted their mental well-being. Introduce movement to enhance their well-being. Be it yoga, running, playing a sport, or just a rejuvenating walk, inspire your child to put on a pair of sneakers and move to experience greater joy and health. 
4. Sleep Better: Children between the ages of 6-12 need 9 to 12 hours of sleep at night. Help them get adequate rest by developing a bedtime routine which includes going to bed at the same time every day. Listening to calming music or a bedtime story can help you unwind and drift to sound sleep.
5. Eat Healthily: There's a deep connection between food and well-being. Include plenty of coloured vegetables and fruits in your child's diet to optimize nutrition in addition to including calcium-rich foods to enable their spectacular growth during this magnificent phase of life. 

As parents and guardians, adults need to be more mindful, and more receptive to what children are saying. They need to learn to respond to children's negative emotions and outbursts instead of reacting and enable their mental well-being by showering them with unconditional love and support.