The growing prevalence of psychiatric problems in children is becoming a public health issue that can not be ignored. Stress has become part of students life. In education stress comes from many sources.
Stress can come directly due to various pressures such as pressure from examinations and fear of failure, pressure from parents, conflicting intrest of parents and child, lack of resources etc. A student may have insecurity at home due to family conflicts, divorce, illness of any important family member, death, financial problems etc. As per a student. The load on a child is so much that education for children has become insanely stressful. It’s almost impossible to sleep more than six hours during week days because after normal school hours a student has to attend tuition classes that normally ends at 8pm to 10pm and some students attend tuition classes before normal schooling of the day i;e early in the morning. It is not different throughout Jammu and kashmir. As per a student (name withheld) “for my town no one committed suicide because of academic pressure but students committ suicide because of family pressure and fashion education.
The stress has two types
Positive stress:- As per researchers the positive stress can strengthen the immune system, enhance memory and improve decision making skills. It also enhance performance and well-being. Yes that is something “good” stress. It is the need of hour to make all stakeholders of education system aware of the good stress so that it can benefit a student as well as society. Good stress, or eustress, is the type of stress, a person feels when he is excited. His pulse quickens and his harmones surge, but there is no threat or fear. Playing game in the classroom, conducting a science experiment, and preparing a report in time to meet a deadline are some examples of good stress.
Good stress motivates and pushes a child to stay on track with studying, learning and classwork. Good stress is beneficial for a student in certain ways for example;
Test anxiety: In our classrooms if a teacher creates a moderate amount of stress before a test. It can help students focus on tests, and perform better.
Deadlines: deadlines can help students to work more efficiently. They can learn how to menage time betterly.
Competition: if a teacher creates a healthy competition among students of class or school they will do their best and boost their confidence and self esteem.
Public speaking: presenting things infront of group in classroom or morning assembly causes stress, but it can also help to develope communication skill and leadership skill among the students.
New experiences: trying new things can be stressful but also provide students with growth opportunities.
2. Bad Stress or Distress:-The most important part of stress that needs discussion is its negative part that makes life of a students stressful and impacts the overall well being of a student. As per a research 70% of students report that depression and anxiety are a”major problem” in their school community. The causes for stress are numerous, among them some are very important as they hamper daily lfe of a student and they need awareness and treatment, for examples
a.Homework: The teachers in our country especially in Jammu and Kashmir use homework to engage their students outside of the classroom. Though the homework and academic performance has a postive relation but too much homework can lead to not meeting other physical and social needs, like staying active and interacting with peers.
Without an opportunity to socialize, relax, connect with their support systems, students can become increasingly burnt out.
b. Overscheduling: We all want our kids to get involved in school activities, make friends, and develope their skills, but overscheduling can actually make this more difficult for them. Instead of enjoying all their activities, many kids and adults find themselves feeling stressed and anxious then overexertion can also result in compromised bodily health due to lack of rest to rejuvenate the body.
Most of the school managers of J&k supply 10 to 12 books to their students of preparatory or primary level in order to creat impression and increase the name and fame of their schools. Such number of books results in overscheduling and increased homework. Such type of fashion leads to mental, physical , emotional torture of learner. Unfortunately our parents get delight in saying that our kid do not get time to play, even to talk or conversate as he does homework for hours with his/her little hands and weak eyes. The parents think such type of huge work load will make their child bright but the result is known to all of us.
Poor Sleeping: The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has recommended that children aged 6–12 years should regularly sleep 9–12 hours per 24 hours and teenagers aged 13–18 years should sleep 8–10 hours per 24 hours. In our Jammu and Kashmir Inadequate sleep duration and difference in sleep schedule during weekends are observed among kids and adolescents, especially among private school students. Primary prevention approach aimed at spreading adequate awareness regarding the importance of sleep among students, parents, and teachers should be practiced.
Parental Pressure: This point is for parents. Constant parental pressure creates defensive attitudes in children. They might develop unhealthy habits, injuries, and mental illnesses and grow into them. Parents should be able to identify child's abilities and advise them on how to develop their talents. There are two main forms of parental pressure: direct pressure and indirect pressure. Direct pressure often involves yelling, force, or complaining. Indirect pressure may involve guilt-tripping your child or reminding them of rigid expectations.
Warning signs of stress among students:- The child may not realise that he is experiencing anxiety or depression, but they will be able to identify symptoms. Some common signs of stress are as:
Irritability:- children dealing with intense stress experience strong emotions. They do not know how to deal with these feelings, they often become furious and lash out at those around them.
Sleep issues:- stress puts the mind on overdrive. This can cause insomnia, nightmares, resistance to going to bed, or trying to work their way into parent,s bed.
Social isolation or changes in social habits
Low motivation
Difficulty in concentrating
Lack of self-control
Inability to focus and concentrate
Headaches and stomachaches
Frequent illness.
Excessive worry and negative thoughts etc are some major symptoms of stress.
Many steps have been taken and are being taken by central government and state goverments in order to make education stress free for a child take an example of two such steps;
Pariksha Pe Charcha:-It is a fortunate thing that our honourable Prime Minister is taking keen intrest in reducing the stress of students of the country. The Programee Pariksha Pe Charcha is one of the greatest step towards reducing the stress of all stakeholders of education system of country.
The programme gives opportunity to discuss ways to make exams stress- free and support students. The Programme acts as oxygen for stressful students and Parents. The programme is creating an atmosphere for the young minds to open up, facilitating and encouraging them for a better future. The idea devlopement is necessary in education system. This programme helps the young minds to come up with their own ideas and understanding their peer ideas, which inturn leads to solution findings. Such type of vision of head of any country will really revolutionise the education sector and will reduce the stress of students to its optimal level.
NEP 2020 and 10 bagless days:- Atleast 10 bagless or 60 hours a year are being earmarked for students of class VI to VIII. The bagless days will help children experience joyful learning with fun. Now it is the work and intrest of teacher to plan for bagless days so that students may get an insight into the outside world and develop a sharp sense of observation. Bagless days are for encouraging learning apart from text books. The students can be encouraged to watch meaningful movies, visit communities etc. The activities like drawing, stimulating, playing, acting, singing,debates,music, drama, speaking, and narrating , self identification, self assessment etc may be focussed. Such activites will reduce the students stress if a teacher use the days skillfully. In addition to above steps new stress free methods, techniques and and technology can be used to reduce or eliminate the stress of students and such steps will help to make the education stress free.
In addition to steps taken by government, there are several tricks that can be used to help students to avoid stress or ultimately eliminate stress.
Get enough sleep: sleep has an important role in stress. Getting enough and quality sleep offers a variety of health benefits, including reducing stress and improving mood of students or any person. The students who sleep well are less likely to get sick, have better memory recall and enjoy a clearer mind. Don’t neglect your sleep schedule. Aim to to get at least 8 a night and take power naps when needed.
Eat a Healthy Diet:- A healthy diet can combat stress in several ways. Unfortunately, students are often prone to poor diet habits as most of our students use junk foods in and outside the school. Junk foods cause obesity that can result in lowered self esteem and perhaps depression. Some students who eat junk foods are at risk of developing depression without obesity. So it is important to provide healthy and fruitful diet to students.
Novel Thoughts and Enough Fun:- New thoughts and ideas increase variety in teaching learning process and as per psychology students love variety. Fun can be created in the class in so many ways like stories, quizzes, games and chants everything can creat fun in the class. This will help to make a stress free school environment.
Give surprise, praises:- let students expect something that is really amazing every day. Give them gifts for their achievement and surprises in different ways. Prepare for all special days in every month and encourage them to put forward their ideas and promote them to share it with other students.
Enthusiasm of teacher:- Teacher’s smile increases the students enthusiasm. Fast and smart movements will make them enthusiastic and energetic too. Teachers need to update thier skills always and remain motivated for new classes, methods, tools, techniques etc
Know the students personally:- in order to avoid stress in classroom it is very important to know the students personally. If any has any problem in following or attending the classes the teacher must know it. Teacher can play an important role in minimising the stress of a student if teacher remains aware of any kind of challenges the students faces physically, mentally, socially, emotionally etc.
Good Parent teacher relation:- the effective communication between parent and teacher can help in minimising the stress of student. The teacher should always be a good friend to the students so that they will feel free in the classroom. Otherwise, they may feel classroom as a prison cell which suffocates their childhood and increases the stress level of student.
Tackle bullying:- It happens in schools and emotionally breaks a student. Besides setting up rules to address bullying, it’s important to encourage the students to brave upand report in case they are bullied.
Imrove the potential of students:- Assess the students and categorize on the basis of learning level. Identify the areas in which students need and help them perform better. This support indeed boost their confidence and they will feel at ease.
Personally connect with students:- personal connections with students helps in stress free learning of students. Interactive sessions, seminars etc help to build the bond between teacher and student. Closer a teacher gets to a student, the teacher will have better understanding of his student. Teacher the use the information for betterment of students performance.
Their are number of practices that can lower the stress of a student. In order to understand such practices a teacher should be good communicator, patient listener, effective learner, adaptable, creative in engaging students, empathetic, patient, etc
