BACK-TO-SCHOOL ANXIETY
Students often feel anxious when they return to school. They worry about grades, their looks, getting into the top school and whether their friends like them. Anxiety in school can be normal, however it can feel very uncomfortable.

Encourage your child/teen to share their worries.

Don’t negate the worries they have by saying, “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”

Problem solve to reduce and manage the worries. Preferably say things like, “Let’s think of some ways you could handle that situation.”

ONLINE GRADES: MORE ACCESS, MORE STRESS
With the advent of Power School, parents can regularly check online grades and attendance, which can assure completion of the work and a successful school year. However, parents and children can obsess over the data, which can increase anxiety in both parent and child.

Balance the amount of time you spend checking PowerSchool. Don’t excessively check grades 4 or 5 times a day. Understand that although it gives real time access, it may not be the most up to date.

Check with the teacher as to when the grades are likely to be recorded and reflected in Power School. If they are updated twice a week, let that be the day when you monitor the “grades.”

If you find out the child didn’t perform well on an assignment, don’t panic. Ask the child what made the test or assignment challenging, and then problem solve ways to do better in the future.

BULLYING
Most kids will experience some form of bullying at school. There are things parents can do to help bully-proof their child.
Don’t promote retaliation, but teach your kid using roll play, how to stand up to the bully with confidence and humor.

Teach your child how not to reward the bully with tears, frustration and anger. It will only reinforce to the bully how to taunt you.

Inform the child’s teacher or a school administrator about the bullying so they can monitor the situation and apply discipline as necessary.