Helping children cope with stress, Lifestyle News

An international study reported last year suggests that Singapore students experience higher levels of anxiety than those from many other countries. The study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) polled 540,000 students from 72 countries and economies. It showed that 66 per cent of students across all OECD countries said they were worried about poor grades in school. Among Singapore students, it was 86 per cent. Ms Tan Wei Yin, 40, for one, is careful not to over-emphasise academic results with her nine-year-old son. "One way of easing stress is by not having too much expectation when it comes to the academic," says Ms Tan, an executive in the insurance industry. But the demands of school impose pressure on her only child, Chee Tiong, as well as other school-going children. Two years ago, when Ms Tan's son was in Primary 1, she set him a target of completing one chapter of an assessment book every day, on top of his school homework.

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Adolescent mental health Introduction Adolescence (10–19 years) is a unique and formative time. Multiple physical, emotional and social changes, including exposure to poverty, abuse, or violence, can make adolescents vulnerable to mental health problems. A hyper-competitive culture is breeding severe test anxiety among many students SINGAPORE: Xiao Jia*, 12, came to us as she could no longer cope with an intense fear of the upcoming Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). She had set out to score more than an aggregate of 250 and didn’t want to disappoint her parents. A plan of getting into her choice school, excelling later at the O and A-Levels, getting into her choice university course, and eventually securing a good job all hinged on doing well in this first national exam. Her fears are not uncommon among her peers, albeit of varying degrees. Children and adolescents in Singapore face pressures at school and at home.

Managing Stress in Teens and Adolescents: A Guide for Parents Teen stress is an important health issue. The early teen years are marked by rapid changes — physical, cognitive, and emotional. Young people also face changing relationships with peers, new demands at school, family tensions, and safety issues in their communities. More teens in Singapore seeking help at IMH for school stress , Education News SINGAPORE (THE NEW PAPER) - More teenagers from top schools are seeking help at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for school-related stress. IMH said that stress-related, anxiety and depressive disorders are common conditions seen at its Child Guidance Clinics, which treat children aged six to 18. The clinics saw an average of about 2,400 new cases every year from 2012 to 2017.

The impact of stress on students in secondary school and higher education: International Journal of Adolescence and Youth: Vol 25, No 1 Methods A single author (MP) searched PubMed and Google Scholar for peer-reviewed articles published at any time in English. Search terms included academic, school, university, stress, mental health, depression, anxiety, youth, young people, resilience, stress management, stress education, substance use, sleep, drop-out, physical health with a combination of any and/or all of the preceding terms. A snowball strategy allowed for examination of references in identified articles, and inclusion of additional articles as appropriate. The author reviewed all potential articles for inclusion. Stress Management While it may seem like there’s nothing you can do about stress at work and home, there are steps you can take to relieve the pressure and regain control. Why is it so important to manage stress? If you’re living with high levels of stress, you’re putting your entire well-being at risk.

The Effects of Long-term Stress on Adolescents Let's start off by stating what is stress. Stress is a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension. Stress is your body's way of responding to any kind of demand. It can be caused by both good and bad experiences. When people feel stressed by something going on around them, their bodies react by releasing chemicals into the blood. Now that we have that down, let's move onto what causes stress. TODAYonline SINGAPORE — Music teacher Adela Josephine Tandar decided to help her students overcome the stress of the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) by encouraging them to pen their own motivational song. The approach certainly struck a chord with her band of young musicians in Primary Six at Juying Primary School in Jurong West. The youngsters were determined to give a boost to their schoolmates hit by PSLE jitters, and they emerged as one of the finalists for last year’s Singapore Youth Festival Theme Song Writing Contest, an event organised by the Ministry of Education (MOE). Mrs Tandar, 32, told TODAY in an interview on Tuesday (July 2) at the school: “The song they wrote titled, Rainbow after the Storm, was about how there is hope after the PSLE whatever results you get...

How to help children and teens manage their stress In the short term, stress can push a child to practice for her piano recital or inspire a teen to study when he’d rather be out with friends. But chronic stress is different. Left unchecked, long-term stress can contribute to a long list of physical and mental health problems.

Lee mentioned many different coping strategies to help Singaporean parents to help their children cope with stress. Parents should listen to their children when they are voicing out what makes them upset. In addition, they should not dismiss the voice of their child when they are expressing their ideas or when they bring up an issue. Children should be encouraged to speak up when they are feeling upset. Lastly, parents should pay attention to their child when children are displaying signs of withdrawal and loss of interest in activities that once excites them. by ricadonnayeong Mar 26