Five Signs Of The Back to School Fears That Children May Be Experiencing Right Now & What To Do About Them – “America’s Psychiatrist” Available
Back to school fears are affecting many schoolchildren as they get ready to attend in-person classes for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Kids may be worried about germs, having been drilled at length by their parents in social distancing and hygiene measures. They may not be quite ready to leave the comforts of home and find the thought of being in large crowds of peers alarming after being without friends for so long. Parents can help get children over their back-to-school fears by encouraging them to talk about the things that worry them.
Cited Story Link: https://parenting.kars4kids.org/back-to-school-fears-as-schools-reopen/
Dr. Carole Lieberman suggests that children going back to school will be carrying a lot of fear in their book bags along with their new pencils and notebooks. Here are her five signs of back-to-school fears that children may be experiencing. She is available to offer tips on what children/parents can do.
Separation Anxiety
After spending many months at home with their family instead of going to school, children may miss their parents and be fearful that they cannot make it in the world alone. They have, indeed, lost some of their independence.
Depression
Many kids will be depressed. Just like adults miss the world as it used to be, kids feel even more overwhelmed by this loss. Most don’t have the experience of going through such challenging times and coming out the other end, so they are stuck feeling sad.
Germophobia
Kids who normally pay no attention to dirt or mud, unless it’s to play in it, may now have some degree of germophobia, and worry about touching desks, crayons, pens, or other things at school.
Agoraphobia
Some kids will have agoraphobia, fear of crowds or groups of other kids. These kids will be torn between wanting to see their friends again, after feeling lonely for so long, and fear of being swallowed up by them in a classroom or the hallway.
Aggression
Since many kids have spent their time playing violent video games when they were kept home from school, some of them may be aggressive or fear aggression from others when they return, because research has shown that the more hours of violent media a child consumes, the more aggressive they become and the more fearful of a “mean world.”
About “America’s Psychiatrist” Carole Lieberman, M.D., M.P.H
Carole Lieberman, M.D., M.P.H. is a board-certified Beverly Hills psychiatrist and an award-winning and bestselling author. She was trained at NYU-Bellevue and at Anna Freud’s London Clinic. She has served on the Clinical Faculty of UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute for years.
When Dr. Carole isn’t seeing patients or testifying at trials as a forensic psychiatrist/expert witness, she’s working as a three-time, Emmy-honored TV personality who has appeared on Oprah, the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, Fox News, HLN, ET, ABC, CBS, NBC and many more.
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