Getting Your Child Ready For School Again

Few days back me and my son were watching movie on television.  My son's mobile ran and he answered the call. I don't know who was on other side and what that person said. My son first gave a happy expression and in a second his face changed to pale. In 2 minutes he hanged his call and went to his room quietly.  Seeing him go like this I got worried.  I followed him to his room. I asked him if I could come in and sat beside him.  He was so upset. I asked him "what's the matter honey?"  He came close to me and said; " mom school is reopening this month". I was wondering what to say and how to react. All this while I had thought of so many different nonsense things and was worried.  But I could understand what my 15  year old would be going through now. From past almost 6 months he and thousands other children were locked in houses due Covid 19 pandemic and now they have to go back to school. 

This would be scenario and feeling of those thousands of children who had enjoyed their over extended vacation for about 6 months with minimum burden of studies and tests.  They will be having anxiety and would be overwhelmed at the same time. As Government has given permission to reopen schools and many states are also thinking of the same to bring in atleast minimum number of students and then slowly increase the number as per the situation; children have become upset. They have got so used this holidays and online schooling from the comforts of their homes; that now thinking of going to school regularly is bringing them mixed feelings.  We as parents and teachers have to take up responsibilities to get them ready for going back to school positively. Age sometimes doesn't make much difference in the thinking process of children.  Many a times almost all children react equally towards certain situations.  Now since the news are out and even schools are gearing up for welcoming students back to school with precautions; so now children needs to get ready. 

Children need to be spoken to about going back to school. Even though they have been going all these years but they never had such long extended vacation.  Age and grade doesn't matter.  Even higher grades students may have anxiety.  Life is no more the same as it was before lockdown started. They should be prepared to accept the changes that they are going to face in school. They need to be talked about how they have adjusted to online classes and online assessments same way they have to get adjusted with new setup at school. As per Government instructions only limited students will be allowed; so they might not meet all their friends daily.  They will have to sit in distance.  They might not even have other extra curricular activities.  Moving around freely is school will not be allowed.  Eating outside food like earlier will at risk. So they will go back to school but with difference. 

I know you all must be wondering what new did I say in previous paragraphs.  My concern is to make uyou aware about how this changes might affect your children psychologically.  It's very important not to ignore this and make a point to talk and to prepare your children before they enter the school again. If they will be prepared then they would accept the changes easily and get adopted to it without much problems.  They might even be helpful to their friends who might be undergoing any kind of issues. They will also help their school teachers and management to carry out the classes normally by supporting and understanding the situation and handling it maturely if they are prepared. One main important advantage would be that they will never feel stressed by seeing the unexpected changes in school setup. In current pandemic many suffer not only from fear of virus; but also the fear of how the things will get back to normal. It's big question which will always give stress to anyone of any age. Most importantly as a parents you should always remember the changes happening to your children because of pandemic; so once the school start you don't start pressuring them with studies and gets high scores.  Give then time first to settle and get adjusted to new setup but make sure that their learning is not affected.  These year it all should matter is health as main priority and things should keep going without burden and stress. It's also important one keep themselves mentally healthy too. Be a supportive parent and also responsible towards your child's mental health and make help them grow healthy.

MY FIT BRAIN with the team of counselors, is providing online counseling services, making it easier for their client, to seek a solution to the problem they are facing in their life.