Should I stay or should I go?
“Almost half of secondary schools in England sent home one or more pupils because of Covid incidents last week, the latest attendance figures show.” BBC 20/10/20
As the half term holiday approaches. stress and anxiety levels of both teachers and young people are inevitably on the rise.
After lockdown came the exam fiasco bringing fears and disappointments to many and now some schools are open and some not, causing even more confusion and concern. Going back to school gave many young people the respite they needed after months of home incarceration during lockdown itself.
Barnardo’s surveyed some young people during lockdown and their issues were identified with a need to get out of the home being paramount.
Missing social contact – not being able to spend time with friends.
Missing peer support – not being able to share their problems with their usual support network.
Lack of personal space – feeling stuck at home with no space away from parents or siblings.
Getting away from family arguments – The stress of lock down, worry about income and being cooped up can trigger frustration and more arguments than usual.
Too much focus on schoolwork – Frustration with home schooling without the social interaction with friendship groups and missing sporting activities.
Missing out –. The summer term (after exams) is usually fun with sports days, prizegiving, proms and the holidays themselves are all things young people look forward to. Not having anything to look forward to is hard to accept.
Not affected – Many young people felt COVID-19 wasn’t going to affect them and they feel resentful of the imposed restrictions,
Young love – Teenage relationships are challenging at the best of times but initiating, developing and maintaining relationships virtually is much harder!
Feeling anxious and stressed – The confusion, fear tension and anxiety in some homes became infectious making young people desperate to escape the house, in spite of the rules.
Feeling scared and threatened –Some felt scared and threatened within their homes due to domestic abuse, heavy drinking or violence and needed to escape harm by leaving the house.
All this on top of recognised causes of teenage stress and anxiety:
The dangers of Not going to school are likely to outweigh the dangers of Covid19 for cpupils. Young people need to be socially, emotionally, physically and mentally active in order to thrive. Mental health is paramount and isolation, no social contact and boredom are a recipe for stress and anxiety, depression and self-harm to develop and grow.
How will you know if the young people in your life are stressed and anxious?
Some of these signs are a normal part of adolescence but the last few months have been anything but normal. Keep the lines of communication open and reassure everyone in the family that it’s Ok to have a bad day and check how everyone is feeling. A problem shared may not be a problem halved but it’s a start and prevention is certainly better than cure!
Ruth Fogg – Stressworx – Author of Stress n’ Stuff – Tackling Teenage Mental Health for Adults who live and work with young people and Stress N’ Stuff – Tackling Tough Times Available on Amazon
