Local medical expert provides tips for relieving school anxiety

JACKSON, Tenn. — A local health professional provides tips on how to cope with back-to-school anxiety.

Dr. Peter Gardner, medical director of Physicians Quality Care, provided tips for parents on how to help students relieve stress as the new school year begins.

“Let’s get their sleep schedule back on track,” Gardner said. “That is probably number one of all things. Number two, you can talk to them about it. Kids that are going to be anxious, they need to hear that you acknowledge that it is okay to be a little anxious the first day of school.”

Gardner says back-to-school anxiety is common in children.

It can also be nerve-wrecking for those students who are enrolling in a new school, away from friends and teachers they know.

“If it’s a new school, get the kid in the car, take him up to school, show him where they are going to get dropped off and where they are going to get picked up,” Gardner said. “Walk around the school a little bit, get them acclimated.”

Parents can also start talking to their children on who their teachers are going to be.

There are some commons symptoms parents need to look for in their child.

“Fatigue, little isolation, sometimes even some stomach aches,” Gardner said. “When I see a kid with stomach aches at the beginning of the school year, they usually have some school anxiety.”

Gardner also offered tips on how children can cope with their anxiety.

“Talk to their friends,” Gardner said. “Number two, talk to their parents. If they are anxious about something, a lot of the anxiety is eased if they just let somebody know how they feel.”

With these tips, students and their parents may be able to relieve stress and anxiety as school starts.