Anxiety in Primary School
Children can express anxiety at anytime in their life. Each child deals with anxiety in different ways and each child might show symptoms very different to another.
Data is showing that there is a rise in childhood anxiety and that more children are being affected.
Children can find it hard to talk about their feelings and will not be able to tell you if they are feeling anxious because they do not know any better.
As a parent you might notice changes in your child's mood, behaviour, mannerisms, body language.
Sometimes small changes can effect a child in a very big way. For example : if a child has gone into school and his/her regular teacher is off on sick and they have got a new teacher. Your child might find this change very difficult because they tend to like routine and like to know if things are changing.
As a parent, we might just acknowledge that this is normal and people can be sick or off from work but in the child's mind this is not normal because they like stability and routine.
Other examples - if your child has moved schools or classes this can trigger off anxieties in children - new teacher, new environment, new friends, new routine it is alot to deal with.
Children need support and guidance and need to taught techniques to develop ways to understand there feelings and how best to manage their anxieties.
Talk to your school, if you have seen a change in your child's behaviour or are worried about their moods or if your child is unhappy going to school or any other worries.
Use the resources below to gain more information on what is available to support you as a parent who might have worries and concerns.
Resources
Childline - Calm Zone
ChildLine have produced this excellent resource which will give you advice, support, games, activities to help you and your child when things are a bit stressful. The activities range from breathing exercises, to expressing yourself through drawing and writing. There is games and videos which you can do together. Click here to go to the site.
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