We encounter many challenges in our life. Whether it is job related, health related, family issues or other
difficulties. These challenges, if sustains long or recurs, creates stress. Similarly, there are many types of
challenges in the life of students, the biggest of which is the challenge of exams. Exams are a recurring
thing in a student’s life so the stress is always there on the children. It is a different matter that it is less on
some or more on some but it happens to everyone. When there is any kind of stress, some reactions are
triggered in the body.
In today’s blog from parenting by Anshu, we will talk about how to keep your children calm and focused
during exams.
Reaction in Body Due to Stress
The effects of stress can be physical, emotional and mental and these reactions are all interconnected.
Physical Symptoms
Physical symptoms are of different types. Physical symptoms of stress which are very common in
children are they are not feeling hungry and they are having stomach ache or headache. Many times they
lie down and do not even feel like getting up. They get less sleep or keep sleeping a lot. All these are
symptoms of physical stress which you can easily identify by looking at them.
Sometimes their stress level increases so much that they become extremely nervous and their hands and
feet start shaking. Their heart beat increases. Whenever they talk about the exam or think about it, their
palpitation increases and it is visible in their facial expressions. You should take such symptoms very
seriously and they need a lot of support at that time, so do not ignore such symptoms at all.
Emotional Symptoms
Many times parents mark emotional symptoms in children that the children feel very demotivated and the
fear of failure troubles them a lot. This also shows in their continuous pondering on questions like “what
if I fail?”, “what will I do if I don’t get selected?” and their self-esteem also becomes very low. They don’t
have any confidence. These are all emotional symptoms. You can notice these in children during
conversation. Sometimes they can discuss all this with you during conversation or they can share it with
their friends.
Cognitive Change Symptoms
Exam stress severely affects cognitive functioning and leads to various symptoms. Children experience
difficulty in concentrating, compromised ability to memorize new information or recall old information,
confusion, reduced problem-solving ability, and overthinking. If you feel that the children are suffering
from any or all of these symptoms then you should pay attention to the situation.
Academic performance
If their performance is not good in examination despite having sufficient preparation, then it means that
they are under pressure. If you feel that their grades are going down, they do not have motivation, or they
are postponing things so that they can study more, consider these as signs of stress. Because of this, their
focus is going down. At that time, your support is very important for them.
Behavior Changes
Behavior also changes due to increase in stress. Some children either become very quiet or they start
getting irritated or frustrated, shout or sit alone all the time. They are seen fidgeting with their
nervousness. Sometimes they will be seen biting nails while lost in thoughts. Such symptoms are all
behavioral changes. If you are feeling these changes in their behavior then you should pay attention to
them. At this time, they need your support a lot.
Changes in Communication
Whenever you talk to children, you can see that there is some change in their conversation. They are not
able to express themselves properly or they express their stress in a very over the top way. They feel
nervous, they are not able to talk like they normally do.
If you see these symptoms in them then you will have to counsel them. Convince them that they should
not take stress for the exam because whatever they have studied, they will do well in the exam and even if
it does not go well, there is no problem. The more preparation they do, the more response they will get.
When you explain this thing in a settled way and they do not see any expectations from you and see that
their parents are not judging them and instead supporting them, their stress level will reduce. At this time,
you have to pay much attention to understanding the children, understand their problems, talk to them,
and maintain the environment of the house.
Make sure that they do not feel that exams are a very big thing, which they should be afraid of. They
should not take exam stress at all. If you explain in this way and stay with them, then the fear of exams
that the children have will gradually reduce and their performance will improve. So keep this in mind and
support the children. That’s all from parenting by Anshu on how to handle children during exam stress. If
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