Managing Student Anxiety in the Classroom

 

Managing Student Anxiety in the Classroom

Author: Santosh Kumar Biswa, Sr. Teacher, Damphu CS, Tsirang, Bhutan

 

Anxiety in general is a feeling of irrational fear of a situation (McLoone, Hudson, and Rapee, 2006) and uneasiness that leads to chronic depression that can get worse over time if not treated on time (MedlinePlus, 2020). Basically, anxiety is caused due to social, academic, and genetic factors that lead to stress and often by environmental stressors (Scott, 2021). Social stressors include teachers, peers, bullies, over-scheduling, family time, sleep disorders, difficult tasks, tests, diet, etc. Students with anxiety would feel different from their peers, which is a serious problem that needs to be addressed as soon as possible because such problems can make their learning hard. It has a significant impact on students' intellectual and educational well-being, social development, and adulthood based on their gender (McLoone, Hudson, and Rapee, 2006).

Examining the visible signs of anxiety shown by a few students in my classroom

As teachers, we can observe three forms of anxiety in our classroom with students that include school refusal, test anxiety, and social anxiety we need to have a deeper understanding of them to support them overcome such disorders. The teacher should know that there are six types of anxiety such as social anxiety, separation anxiety, GAD (Generalized anxiety disorder), phobias, school phobia, comorbidity, assessment, (McLoone, Hudson, and Rapee, 2006) selective mutism, and panic disorder (IBCCES.org, 2022) that demands vigilance and timely supports. Students certainly show certain signs of anxiety that are visible based on the way they behave in the classroom. Some visible signs of anxiety shown by a few students in my classroom would be as follows:

·       Avoid certain situations or activities in the classroom due to self-consciousness.

·       Show some health-related issues such as a racing heart, a queasy stomach, heat on the palms and legs, fast breathing, etc.

·       They feel insecure about impending panic or danger.

·       Feel weak and tired in class and may ask to leave school early.

·       Irregular homework submission.

·       Have difficulty concentrating during the lesson.

·       Misses their classes and also has a weak relationship with their teachers and peers (The Nemours Foundation, 2022).

·       Show the signs of feelings that they may become the victim of scrutiny and negative feedback (McLoone, Hudson, and Rapee, 2006).

·       Showcase their distress and worries by showing unusual behavior or crying (McLoone, Hudson, and Rapee, 2006).

·       Show worries about their examination and the grades they would attain.

·       Unable to control their worries and are not comfortable sitting and relaxing (McLoone, Hudson, and Rapee, 2006).

 

Why do we need help to handle this situation?

We need help in handling the anxiety situation because we don't possess a good technique to deal with any form of anxiety. Moreover, as we are not well-trained, we may not be able to identify those students who are struggling with anxiety (Hammer, 2019). Thus, we can support understanding anxiety so that we can design supportive classroom procedures to diagnose it and help students.

Analyze the FRIENDS program

The FRIENDS program in school is an evidence-based cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) program approved by the World Health Organization (Sawyer, 2011) that is designed to enhance lifelong resilience in students to prevent and treat anxiety and depression and for resilience building in the classroom by teachers (Province of British Columbia, 2015). The training is basically given to teachers and school counselors who are committed to helping students with anxiety. Moreover, it creates a forum whereby students get an opportunity to discuss and explore conflict resolution and develop positive personal and cultural identities to set purposeful goals in their lives.

Why it would be worthwhile implementing in my classroom

It is delivered to students every week for about ten weeks. It focuses on providing life skills education to students to manage their anxiety related to worries, fear, and coping with difficult situations based on a cognitive-behavioral model (Ministry of Children and Family Development, 2014). This program trains teachers to boost the resilience and social, emotional, and cognitive development of their students in the classroom. The research shows the teacher, after attending the program, can help students reduce their anxiety disorders drastically by building emotional strength in students, and the students without anxiety have drastically improved their self-esteem (Kelly, 2022). The program provides teachers with set skills and strategies that enable them to teach lifelong strategies to students so that they can easily cope with difficult situations (Province of British Columbia, 2015).

In conclusion, students feeling anxious and their anxiety should never be treated the same because feeling anxious is normal behavior, while anxiety requires immediate treatment. It has a direct implication on their daily personal lives. Anxiety becomes serious the moment students stop participating in classroom activities and other opportunities that promote social engagement. Thus, the teacher should be proactive in identifying it at the earlier stage of anxiety so that students would get timely support.

References

Hammer, B. (2019). How Teachers Can Help Students Cope with General Anxiety in the Classroom. https://blog.edmentum.com/how-teachers-can-help-students-cope-general-anxiety-classroom

IBCCES.org. (2022).  Top 10 Signs of Student Anxiety in The Classroom. https://ibcces.org/blog/2019/05/08/signs-student-anxiety-classroom/

Kelly, A. (2022). Resilience-building and anxiety prevention. HeretoHelp. https://www.heretohelp.bc.ca/visions-treatment-for-young-people-vol3/friends-life

McLoone, J., Hudson, J. L., & Rapee, R. M. (2006). Treating anxiety disorders in a school setting. Education and Treatment of Children, 29(2), 219-242. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42899883

Ministry of Children and Family Development. (2014). FRIENDS For Life - Liaison Manual. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health/managing-your-health/mental-health-substance-use/child-teen-mental-health/friends_liaison_manual.pdf

Province of British Columbia. (2015). BC FRIENDS at School. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health/managing-your-health/mental-health-substance-use/child-teen-mental-health/bc_friends_at_school.pdf

Sawyer, K. A. (2011). A Qualitative Study on The Implementation of The Friends

Anxiety Management and Mental Health Promotion Program. https://www.twu.ca/sites/default/files/sawyerkafui_0.pdf

Scott, E. (2021). Social Causes of School Anxiety. https://www.verywellfamily.com/social-causes-of-school-anxiety-3145171

The Nemours Foundation. (2022). Anxiety Disorders Factsheet (for Schools). https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/anxiety-factsheet.html

MedlinePlus. (2020). Anxiety. https://medlineplus.gov/anxiety.html#:~:text=Anxiety%20is%20a%20feeling%20of,before%20making%20an%20important%20decision.