The future generations, our students, aspire to “conquer the world.” They have more opportunities now then ever to help them in their quest for greatness. Unfortunately, there is also a dark cloud hovering over some of our students, preventing them from reaching their full potential. Anxiety among students is on the rise. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 25 percent of children ages 13-18 have been diagnosed with anxiety. Golda Ginsburg, a child psychologist and professor at the University of Connecticut, said, “Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric illness in children.” She also noted, “that number may be even higher as anxiety is often underdiagnosed and undertreated.”
“The academic effects of anxiety can be crippling,” notes Jessica Minahan, behavior analyst and coauthor of The Behavior Code. When anxiety increases, working memory skills plummet. Students might study for a test but suddenly be unable to access that information from their short-term memory. Their mind may even go blank on basic math knowledge. When students are unaware of how anxiety impacts their brain, the message they take away is that they need to study harder. “We can lose 13-20 IQ points in a moment of anxiety,” says Minahan. Anxiety affects both working memory and efficiency.
Anxiety is manifested in the classroom; this puts teachers on the frontline. Knowing what the red flags are and some basic, helpful anxiety-reduction skills can be beneficial to assist students with their struggles. Students experiencing anxiety may become preoccupied with failure or perfectionism. Avoidance is a common observable behavior. Students may refuse to take a test or raise their hand to answer a question. Some complain of headaches, nausea, heart palpitations, or other physical ailments. “We’re neurologically programmed to avoid something stressful,” says Minahan. When we are in a heightened state of anxiety, the limbic system goes into overdrive and our brain is basically saying “don’t think about it, just get out of here.”
By telling anxious kids to “calm down,” we are assuming they have the skills to do so. Self-regulation, negative thought stopping, perspective taking, executive functioning, and flexible thinking may be skills that are underdeveloped in children suffering with anxiety. “Those skills go down like an elevator when anxiety goes up,” says Minahan.
So what can we do to help? Teachers and parents can help build those skills. By doing so, the behavior problems and acting out will go down. Teachers can help the students “reset” by starting class with a fun two-minute word game or by showing a YouTube clip to review a concept. Minahan also suggests keeping students engaged in class to keep them from falling into anxious thoughts, provide breaks for students who have test anxiety, and work with students who feel overwhelmed with their workload. Teachers can also help students become aware of what it feels like when their anxiety is escalating by using an “emotional thermometer” to determine where they are on a scale of 1-10. This is extremely beneficial for younger students.
As educators, we are molding our students for future success. As we educate ourselves and strive to understand the needs of our students, we will give them the skills they need to overcome their struggles, empower them to reach their full potential, and, in a way, help them “conquer the world.”
Reference:
Sarah McKibben (August 2017) “ASCD Education Update – Helping Ease Student Anxiety” Volume 59, Number 8