Back To School: Tips To Overcome Stress Together

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

This September, millions of children and youth in the United States will make their return to school. It is a time of anticipation, excitement and, in many cases, stress.

But there are keys to be able to overcome this step more easily. Here, Isauro Blanco, author of the books Mindware and Committed Parents gives us the keys to be able to pass not only this, but many of the tests that await us during the educational life of our children.

The Mexican specialist residing in Paris, is a philosopher, pedagogue, and educational and clinical psychologist recognized in Latin America and Spain for his career in the world of teaching and is a constant reference in educational matters in the Spanish-speaking media.

The book Committed Parents, by the pedagogical expert Isauro Blanco.

How can we reduce the stress of going back to school?

I talk to you a lot about a phenomenon called mirror neurons, which are very primitive and were discovered very recently. They work as the name implies: they copy the environment, the emotions, the language, the environment of what the children are living. If the child sees his parents worried, distressed [then] he begins to worry. They capture emotions and reproduce them. And they also live the consequences of stress: alternations in sleep, food. So, either we are calm or the children cannot live another situation.

So, what to do?

The entry to classes is a temporary event, the first weeks pass and that's it. The issue is going deeper and determining what is an event and what is a problem. We have to learn to live in inner peace. Because then come exams, etc., and we should not let every event activate that tendency to distress.

Do you have to be excited when entering classes?

Clear! If the dad gets up and is complaining that he has to go to work and then he turns to tell the boy to be encouraged to go to school, the boy will not believe it! We educate for what we are, not for what we do or what we say. We have to avoid toxic environments around children.

What to do when the child goes to a new school?

If [the parents] think 'poor thing, go to a new school, what is going to happen to him, etc' (…) or that the changes are bad, or I am afraid that my son will not adapt or that he will not find friends … then I will create a situation of fear, mistrust and anguish. But, if I think otherwise and see how positive a change is, in the advantages, I will transmit confidence and security. From each emotion a behavior is derived. Parents sometimes like fast formulas. There are no magic wands, education is a process that involves time, consistency and [practice] in daily life.

What to do with a child who does not want to go back to school?

It should not be anticipated much. One of the first things to see is why you don't want to go, have you failed? Has it gone wrong? You have to detect the intellectual skills that you lack to develop. The first thing to develop is reading. If you have trouble reading you should focus on that before moving on. After all, there are many causes and they are very personal and you should seek a professional if something deeper is detected.

Blanco is founder and pedagogical director of the ASC (American society of communications), Hábil Sistemas, Habilmind and EIM (Educational Improvement Management), with offices in Spain and Mexico.