Causes of Stress among Children

Children are a burdened lot in today’s world. The world is much more complicated, threatening, competitive and demanding than what it used to be. It has taken children into its fold and impacted their lives in ways that lead to strain and stress much earlier in life.

Children are pressurized in more ways than one in their daily life. There are pressures of the school and peers, pressure from parents and family members, pressure of social expectations and standards; and the burden of having to prove oneself worthy and successful in a competitive world like this surely takes a toll on their mental and physical well being.

Teachers at school, parents at home, tutors and others related to a child should take cognizance of the stress under which children live, should be sensitive to it and help children to de-stress and channelize their negative energies and emotions by appropriate venting techniques from time to time.

Academics are a major source of stress for children. Studies can actually be de-stressing and relaxing for children. Children may love studying but the strict conditions in which they are made to study, the lack of engaging and innovative techniques employed at school, marks or result oriented approach towards studies, no exposure to practical understanding of the subject, poor teacher-student interaction makes studies a cumbersome process and creates stress.

The child is not allowed the leisure to chalk out his/her interest, get involved in it more, and express his/her creativity through live display of knowledge. Rather they are subjected to exams that mostly involve rote learning, mugging up and reproducing. They are also under pressure from various sources to perform well.

The expectation of parents, society and others to see children excel, be all rounders, be competitive, secure highest grades and rank alters the way the child goes through the learning process. The expectations are many times disconnected with the child’s actual capacity and aptitude for a particular subject. The pressure to perform well and beyond the means of the child is sure to put them through tension, anxiety, panic, strain and stress.

The quality time that children need by playing with each others, interacting with parents, enjoying with relatives and neighbours, reading children’s books or watching kid movies has drastically reduced. These activities could have greatly helped children to de-stress; however, in the absence of this, stress is the only outcome.