Reducing anxiety
Adam Ezekiel – Director of Students 7-12
Parent resources
As lockdown restrictions are slowly being lifted to varying degrees, we are entering a time of transition and adjustment. Many young people may be excited at the prospect of restrictions being lifted, whilst others may be feeling mixed emotions. Reactions will differ depending on how well they cope with stress and change. Keeping a check on your child’s mental health and wellbeing as they adjust to new routines, will be vitally important.
There is still a lot of uncertainty ahead of us, so focusing on the things you can control or enjoy doing, can help establish predictability and familiarity for the whole family. Adult carers need to provide young people with reassurance by acknowledging any concerns and fears they may have at this time. Consider this to be a normal reaction, however it may be best to focus more on their feelings and emotions, rather than the practicalities at this stage.
This Positive Choices webinar, presented by Paul Dillon, will briefly examine the history of ‘teenagers’, rebellion and the different ‘temptations’ that have existed over time. Using the latest research on the developing brain, it will also discuss why adolescence is a period of ‘risk-taking’ and the reasons why young people make the decisions they do during this time.
Sleepovers, parties and gatherings provide teens with valuable opportunities to develop important socialising skills but are not ‘risk-free’.
This is a comprehensive resource to assist parents, carers and teachers on a range of topics essential to child safety. Over the past 10 years most NSW primary schools have received hard copies of this most important child safety handbook and have distributed them to the parents and carers of their pupils.
This is an article republished in Generation Next. Generation Next describes itself as ‘a social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people.”
Strategies to help your kids or teens to reduce anxiety
Dr Jodie Lowinger has provided two videos from her Parent Tips Video Series that might be of interest to some parents:
- Think of worry as a bully you can stand up to and boss back
- Build in a pause using the power of breathing
- How to communicate to your children that feelings are ok and we have the power to choose how we respond to our feelings
- Build a language around emotions by talking about them and labelling the different feelings