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As schools open their doors across the province, Fraser Health is encouraging parents to support students as they adjust to the school year and the anxiety that it can bring.
Saktaar Sodhi is entering Grade 12, and that brings a whole new set of anxieties as schools open Tuesday.
“Grade 12 students, they’re wondering how to apply to universities right now,” she said.
The province reported in 2020 that only about 51 per cent of high school graduates transitioned into post-secondary education within one year. Sodhi hopes to become a pharmacist and study at Simon Fraser University of the University of British Columbia next year.
In a release, Nelam Sall, with Fraser Health, said parents can start by asking their children what worries them and “really listening to what they have to say.”
“We can’t take away every uncomfortable feeling, but we can help children learn that they can cope with them,” he added.
Around this time of year, anxiety is common, according to clinical counsellor Amrita Kaur Sandhu.
She explained that in the summertime, kids enjoy a period of predictability, on their terms. When fall rolls back around, school-aged children start to anticipate learning from new teachers, being in new classrooms with new people and adjusting to different routines.
Providing support
The best solution at home, Sandhu noted, is to have an open conversation between parents and children.
“Talking about it, naming it, helping support the child and soothe their feelings that they might be having is giving them their best shot,” explained Sandhu.
“It’s easier said than done.”
Sandhu also said some of the most easily implemented strategies include getting back into a normal sleep routine, allowing kids to relax after school and recognizing that they may come home with emotions after holding them back throughout the day.
Sodhi said some students can feel nervous about fitting in. She explained that people who wear brand-name clothes to school are often more socially included.
“If you don’t start off the day with the newest shoes you have or the newest clothes, they’re going to have a weird vibe,” said Sodhi.
But once high school students mature around Grade 10, that focus on status can shift to “[who] you are as a person.”
“They will have a rough start, I know, but it will not be hard for them to make friends at school.”