التطبيقات التربوية لقلق الطفولة
Educational Implications
Because students with anxiety
disorders are easily frustrated, they may have difficulty completing their
work. They may worry so much about getting everything right that they take much
longer to finish than other students. Or they may simply refuse to begin out of
fear that they won’t be able to do anything properly. Their fears of being
embarrassed, humiliated, or failing may result in school avoidance. Getting
behind in their work due to numerous absences often creates a cycle of fear of
failure, increased anxiety, and avoidance, which leads to more absences.
Students experiencing PTSD may have
difficulty concentrating on work, as they are focused on the traumatic event
and ensuring that they can avoid it in the future. Students may also be
distracted frequently by reminders of the trauma triggering ‘flashbacks’,
leading to an inability to complete work. Students’ reactions may be out
of context given the current situation as they react to their perception of
events, or reminders of past events. Reminders may come from any of the
senses, and may seem innocuous to others (e.g. a smell of a vehicle, the rustle
of leaves, the touch of a friend, or the use of a certain word). Emotional
reactions may take the form of fear, horror, anger or hopelessness, without an
obvious trigger.
Younger students are not likely
to identify anxious feelings, which may make it difficult for educators to
fully understand the reason behind poor school performance.
Tell tale signs may include:
-
Excessive absence,
school refusal, truancy or illness related to the anxiety -
Anxiety or fear about
particular school activities (would vary according to the type and level
of anxiety) -
Difficulty keeping
scheduled appointments (secondary students) -
Difficulty beginning
or completing activities or assessments -
Inability to think
and act (high anxiety can paralyse these functions) -
Physical responses
such as becoming ill or highly agitated -
Physical responses
that inhibit learning (material is not absorbed and/or the material is not
recalled) -
Responding to
perceived stressful situations with either anger, aggression or withdrawal
-
Difficulty
participating fully in curriculum activities due to fatigue from being
hyper-aware of their surroundings. It is important to remember that
emotional energy can be as draining as physical exertion.
