Tips, advice for East Texas students to combat back-to-school anxiety

TYLER, Texas ( KETK ) – As summer comes to an end and the start of school starts creeping closer, it can come with anxiety to children and parents.

With only a few weeks before school is back in session, there’s a normal amount of anxiety children and parents may be experiencing.

A Bullard mother said she felt more scared than her son about him going to school. Experts say these nerves are normal for parents and children going to school for the first time or advancing to a new grade.

“It’s really common for kids to be nervous to be going back to school,” Rebekah Walker, with Tyler Family Counseling, said. “Even if they’re going to the same school as last year it’s a new teacher new friends and we’ve been out for the summer so were not used to the schedule.”

Walker said there are strategies parents can utilize to ease the transition from summer fun to school-focus. One is validating children’s fears and another is reading them the book “The Invisible String.” An idea for parents of younger children about to go into their first school year is to draw a heart on their child’s wrist.

“Any time on the first day of school if there feeling nervous or anxious the can look down at the heart and remember that, mom loves them or dad loves them and that mom and dad will be there at the end of the day to get them,” Walker said.

The CDC recommends parents meet their students teachers and create a positive routine.

“With kids, especially the younger ones, we need to create a nighttime routine, like, now,” Walker said. “Even practice getting up and getting dressed in the morning.”

For parents feeling nervous, Walker recommends planning a brunch with other parents on the first day of school. This advice can help parents and students combat back-to-school anxiety and prepare for an exciting school year.

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