Parents play a pivotal role in helping children cope with academic pressure and develop positive attitudes. Neelanjana Mitra, a counseling postgraduate of Boston College, USA who practiced as a counselor in the US, offers some guidelines on how parents can alleviate child stress.
• Encourage your child to communicate concerns, fears and feelings openly and calmly; offer reassurance, help and support
• Resist the temptation to pressurise children to perform well in academics and refrain from making comparisons between siblings and other children. Appreciate the effort invested, not results
• Build self-esteem by recognising achievement in extra-curricular activities including art, social skills, sports etc. This eases academic pressure and fear of competition
• Encourage children to do their best, but also prepare them for failure
• Encourage individualised decision-making while helping and guiding children to plan their future
• Encourage de-stress activities such as yoga, exercise and meditation
• Emphasise that recreation, sport and entertainment are natural and necessary
• Meet teachers to understand how to support your child
• Look out for tell-tale signs of depression and anxiety in children and refer to a counselor immediately. Reiterate that there’s no stigma attached to counseling