In response to anxiety that may arise in children starting school for the first time or returning to school after a holiday, parents are advised to be understanding and maintain open communication with their children. As the new academic year is about to begin, many children and parents are excitedly preparing for their return to school.
Some children, including toddlers stepping into school for the first time as part of adaptation training on September 2nd and students returning to school on September 9th after the summer holiday, may experience anxiety and stress. Experts urge parents to be understanding in the face of anxiety and stress that may develop in children who are new to school or returning after a holiday.
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, stated in an interview with an AA correspondent that some children starting school for the first time experience school phobia, and these children do not want to leave their mothers when going to school.
"If a child cannot adapt to school within 2 weeks, expert help is needed"
Tarhan, stating that research often shows anxious mothers' children behave this way, said, "Such mothers are perfectionist mothers. In children of controlling mothers, when they first start school, the child feels like they are on a foreign planet. Because they feel that way, they don't want to leave and make their mother wait at the door."
Tarhan stated that, if necessary, the mother should stay with the child initially, adding, "If the child is made to feel that this is their responsibility, the child initially resists but accepts it after a while. Generally, if they cannot adapt within two weeks, then expert help is needed."
Emphasizing that mothers should remain calm in such situations, Tarhan said, "Mothers should say goodbye to their children when leaving; if they leave the child and quietly slip away, the child cannot adapt to school."
Regarding children experiencing reluctance to return to school after a holiday, Tarhan commented, "Children may be unwilling to go to school when there's a holiday and entertainment. Modernism is currently misguiding children. They've made children dopamine addicts. The biggest impact is computers. Children become pleasure-seeking, saying only 'What I like is good, what I don't like is bad,' and they take the easy way out, wanting to achieve without effort."
"Parents should be determined without pressure, threats, or intimidation"
Emphasizing the need to produce dopamine from other ordinary things in the brain, Tarhan said, "Thinking about school success and future success also generates dopamine. Parents need to teach children to generate medium and long-term dopamine. This can be taught to the brain."
Prof. Dr. Tarhan offered the following recommendations to parents regarding anxiety that may arise in children starting school for the first time or returning after a holiday:
"Parents should be determined without pressure, threats, or intimidation, gently comforting the child. Being disciplined is like snowfall; when it falls slowly and continuously, snow accumulates. If you suddenly storm and thunder, the child obeys out of fear. Since they obey without conviction, they will break it at the first opportunity. The child should be told the reasons why they need to go to school. It is important for parents to use a common language. If they use different languages, the child chooses what they like."