Is Your Child Stressed Out With So Many Activities?

We all want the best for our children, but sometimes we fill their schedules with extracurricular activities. Do you know if your child is stressed out with so many activities? Find out.

Mothers know what stress can come from, since we will most likely have suffered from Burnout syndrome. However, it is important to note that stress is a feeling of physical or emotional tension, in short, it is the body’s reaction to a challenge.

It is important to note that children are more emotionally vulnerable than adults, because they do not yet understand the reasons for many events. In addition to that, they have to deal with many demands that we adults give little importance to.

Stress in children

Stress can reach children through different ways and causes for which it reaches adults, it only differs in intensity. The world represents more threats to children than to adults.

Rush, hustle, traffic jams, over-activity, pressure, or news scare kids as everything changes too fast, and more often for them.

In addition, many are very busy and do not have time to play creatively or relax after school.

Children who complain about the amount of activities they participate in, and also refuse to attend them, may be implying that they are too busy.

When stress is continuous and intense

When stress is continuous and intense it has many consequences both in the psyche and in the body.

Sudden stressful events affect your child:

• Speed ​​up your child’s breathing and heartbeat
• It will constrict the blood vessels
• Increase blood pressure and muscle tension
• Upset stomach and headaches

As stress persists, your child may be more susceptible to:

• Diseases
• Have fatigue
• Nightmares
• Bruxism
• Insomnia
• Tantrums
• Depression
• You can do poorly in school

Not all stress is bad …

Moderate amounts of pressure imposed by a teacher or coach can motivate a child to maintain high grades in school, or to participate more in sports activities.

Successfully handling stressful situations or events increases a child’s ability to cope with them in the future.

Is your child stressed out with so many activities?

Many parents believe that their school-age children are unaware of the stressors around them, that they are immune to them.

After all, many children not only have all their basic needs covered, but they also have a room full of toys, friends to share them with, and a schedule full of extracurricular activities.

All the experts coincide in highlighting the convenience of children spending their time in recreational activities, and combining them with those that are related to learning.

However, a school calendar full of activities can cause child anxiety or stress in children, given the impossibility of giving an adequate response to daily demands.

The key to choosing between enrolling our children in an extracurricular activity and what type of activity to choose for them would lie in a good knowledge of the child’s characteristics, abilities and preferences, how they carry their academic performance, and other aspects related to its integral development.

How to help our son if he is stressed

Children’s temperaments vary and therefore they are quite different in their ability to cope with daily stress and problems.

Some children are easygoing by nature and adapt easily to events and new situations. For others, changes in their lives are destabilizing.

All children improve their ability to handle stress if they have been successful in handling challenges in the past, and if they feel they have the capacity and emotional support from family and friends.

Children who have a clear sense of their personal capacity, and feel loved and supported, are the ones who handle any type of situation best.