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Study Stress
Millions of American children are at risk of burn out due to school pressure, new research reveals.
A study of 2,000 parents of school-age children found 76 percent feel their child is under too much pressure from school, the worry over exams and working towards things like SAT’s.
Parents are also seeking professional help because of their child’s school-related anxiety. More than one in five parents have sought professional help for their child’s stress, and another 24 percent have considered it.
A further 22 percent personally know parents who have sought professional help, and one in five have sought some kind of mental health support.
As many as 90 percent said they’ve had reason to worry or fear their child is struggling to cope with managing their academic workload. Key signs noted by parents included being easily irritated, constantly fatigue, mood swings, headaches, being anxious, as well as having trouble concentrating.
The research by Course Hero, which provides course-specific study documents and homework help, examined the difference in academic expectation across the generations. It found the great majority of parents felt they had it easier in terms of competition for school or college placement as well as the burdens laid upon them from an early age. In fact, parents said kids today deal with levels of pressure and stress almost more suited for adults.
Perhaps that’s why 79 percent felt kids are made to grow up too fast today while two in three said their child was currently at risk of burnout due to the amount of stress they placed on their studies.
Sixty-four percent of parents felt their children are being burdened with too many homework assignments. In fact, that was the number one reason why parents say their kids are under too much pressure.
Patrick Mork, CMO of Course Hero stated, “Now, more than ever, students are under tremendous amounts of pressure to perform well in school. As the survey shows, parents are also burdened with this pressure, which leads them to take any action possible to help relieve school-related stress on their child.”
About two in every three parents say their child has reached out to them about being stressed or under too much school pressure.
That has led to over half (52 percent) of parents making a decision to let their child have a day off from school to take decompress.
Many parents believe the current school system places too much pressure and expects too much from homework assignments. Four in ten even say homework assignments are too difficult for their child’s age group.
Parents can try to help with homework, give their children a pep talk and to focus on the positive things in their lives in order to help relieve their children from school work and academic pressure.
Mork continued: “Competition for entry into the nation’s colleges has never been more competitive and students are facing levels of pressure that have rarely been seen in the past. When combined with expectations around sports, extracurricular, or community activities all while try to balance expectations from family and friends, students are facing more challenges at school than they have in past.”
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