Blog

Stress can cause children to do poorly on assignments, skip homework out of fear of failure, or prevent them from building normal relationships with their peers. Developing the skills to cope with stress is essential for a student’s academic and emotional growth. 

How Does Stress Affect Children? 

Just like stress can cause adults to suffer from serious psychological and health issues, stress can also affect the mental and physical wellbeing of children. When our brains register stress, it signals the body to release the hormones adrenaline and cortisol into the bloodstream, which increase heartrate and blood pressure, raise blood sugar levels, and cause other physical changes in the body. This process is a natural reaction, but is only meant to be a short-term reaction. When the brain constantly feels stressed by high pressure or difficult situations (such as 13 straight years of school), stress hormones flood the body for days, weeks, and even months at a time. Source for this? 

According to research by multiple scientific teams in Israel, Italy, Germany, the U.S., and several other countries, constant long-term exposure to these stress hormones have a noticeable – and negative – impact on the body. When exposure to stress is even longer, the effects become more pronounced. The brain’s neurons stop working as well, and new ones have trouble developing. In the young, growing brains of children, this kind of developmental damage can have long-term impacts on how the brain develops. 

The Danger of Childhood Stress 

When students complain that they have trouble paying attention or don’t complete their assignments, many parents assume that their child is acting out or is just showing natural childhood impatience. But if a child’s school performance is suffering because of failure to learn, inability to complete assignments, or otherwise falling behind in school, it might be caused by the negative impacts of stress on the developing body. If your child is struggling in school it is important to assess and understand what is causing the difficulty and to intervene early in order to prevent negative long-term effects on well-being and development. 

If your child is having trouble dealing with stress, he or she requires additional support to help them cope with the pressure of school. While therapy or counseling may be enough for some students, others require a setting that is specialized to help them. 

Sage Day therapeutic school provides alternative schooling for young adolescents who are emotionally fragile or struggle to succeed in a mainstream school environment. For students who have trouble dealing with the stress of education, Sage Day provides a welcoming, safe environment where they will receive the attention and care they need to develop. For more information, or if you are uncertain how to respond to a child’s school difficulties, call us today at 877-887-8817. 

Sources 

1. http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/how-stress-affects-your-child/ 

Want to be notified of new articles and resources from Sage Alliance? Click here to submit your email and opt into our newsletter.