Back to School Anxiety After Quarantine?

Transitions Can Be Scary!

Back-to-school anxiety is quickly becoming real for kids now that in-person classes are returning sooner than expected. These kinds of transitions can be really scary for a lot of kids (and parents) because they represent uncertainty. As parents, our kids’ anxiety often activates our own anxiety, and with it our impulse to step in and “save the day.”

It’s important to remember to be there for them and make sure you make it about their anxiety, and not yours. When we try to rush them through it, it normally backfires. If your child was succeeding online, what are some things you can do to help your kid see that they can carry over that success to in-person classes? That’s what this week’s Tips on Teens question is all about.

“I have a daughter who is 14 years old. She’s always had a little bit of social anxiety her whole life. In school, it was really hard to get her to raise her hand and participate in class. She was always pretty timid in large groups when our extended family would come over on holidays and such. Contrary to most people’s experience, she actually was thriving with distance learning this last year. For whatever reason, she had really ‘come out of her shell’ in online class, was the master of the breakout rooms, etc. Now that LAUSD has announced a sudden return to in person classes, she’s expressed anxiety about going back to school. What can I say to her to help her to both ease her anxiety and make her transition back into school smooth?”