Careers360 Logo

Popular Searches

    Parenting

    How Much Is Too Much For Your School-Going Child ? 7 Tips To Help Them Achieve A Balance

    By Nandini Raman
    25 Mar'23  5 min read
    How Much Is Too Much For Your School-Going Child ? 7 Tips To Help Them Achieve A Balance
    Synopsis

    Students often face immense pressure to excel academically, participate in extracurricular activities, build a fancy resume, spend time with family, and maintain an active social life. These expectations can take a toll on their mental and physical health. This article explores how much is too much for your school-goer and how parents can help children strike a healthy balance.

    How Much Is Too Much For Your School-Going Child ? 7 Tips To Help Them Achieve A Balance
    Synopsis

    Students often face immense pressure to excel academically, participate in extracurricular activities, build a fancy resume, spend time with family, and maintain an active social life. These expectations can take a toll on their mental and physical health. This article explores how much is too much for your school-goer and how parents can help children strike a healthy balance.

    Every parent wants only the best for their children. We want them to succeed socially, academically, emotionally, and become independent human beings with a strong value base that helps them discern right from wrong. We want them to be the best in their own environments. However, in our own quest of wanting to see our children achieve success, we may not realise when we end up overloading them with many activities, responsibilities, tasks, and expectations. This article explores how much is too much for your school-goer and how parents can help children strike a healthy balance.

    Achieving A Healthy Balance

    Research studies prove that students are under severe pressure today in the post-Covid school era. They are expected to excel academically, participate in extracurricular activities, build a fancy, impressive resume, help and spend time at home with family, and also maintain an active, busy social life. Such constant demands and expectations can take a toll on the childs’ mental and physical health, leading them to develop excessive stress, anxiety, and eventually get burned out. Therefore, it is imperative that as parents, we recognise when our child is overwhelmed and stressed out, and help them find a steady balance.

    Also Read | Do You Sometimes Feel Guilty As A Parent? Cope With These 8 Ways

    How Much Is Too Much?

    For younger children, education and almost all learning predominantly needs to be play-based, in addition to a lot of time dedicated for unstructured outdoor play with friends and peers. This helps them build life skills, social skills, develop relationships and friendships and work on values like kindness, honesty, sharing, trust, loyalty, and compassion.

    As children grow older, they are exposed to a wider range of people who inspire and motivate them. They may want to participate in extracurricular activities, volunteer for causes, or pursue their interests. This circle of influence may include teachers, mentors, neighbours, grandparents, and relatives, as well as parents and close friends who serve as role models.

    It is essential for parents to remain in sync with their child's aspirations and ensure that they are not overburdening themselves. Children must have sufficient time for their school work, study, play, exercise, sports, and relaxation. Parents must encourage their children to strike a healthy balance between their interests and responsibilities, while also being mindful of their overall well-being.

    Recognising Signs Of Distress

    One sign that your child is overloaded is when they start showing signs of stress and anxiety.

    • Bedwetting or regressive behaviours
    • Irritability or aggression due to lack of sleep
    • Complaints of fatigue, headaches, or stomach aches
    • Frustration and inability to complete tasks
    • Low self-esteem and negative self-talk
    • Withdrawal from social activities and interests
    • Decline in academic performance and time management skills

    If you notice these signs, intervene immediately and help your child regain a sense of equilibrium and balance.

    Also Read | School Refusal In Teenagers : 6 Tips For Parents

    How Can You Help?

    Here are a few ways parents can help their children find balance amid the multiple scholastic and co-scholastic requirements the latter needs to meet.

    How-Parents-Can-Help%20(1)Show appreciation for your child’s efforts and encourage and motivate them to do their best.

    Set Realistic Expectations | Sit with your children and ask them what is something that they want to do. Validate that with the time that they have at their disposal, their age, specific interest/s and inherent abilities. Talk to them kindly if you find their goals unrealistic that makes them push themselves very hard.

    Prioritise Activities | Help your children focus on and prioritise activities that they enjoy and are passionate about, rather than it being a checklist of sorts. The activities that they pursue must come from a list of their core interests and abilities.

    Time Management | Teach them this life skill and its importance. There is only so much time that everyone has and it is a finite resource. Help your child identify what is something that augments and increases their energy and what are time stealer activities that deplete their energy. This will also help them to plan and organise themselves better and stay away from procrastination.

    Also Read | Loneliness In School-Going Children: Signs And Causes

    Create A Schedule | Make a schedule that is realistic, that helps your child segregate and identify work tasks and fun classes and active hobbies and interests. There is a time and a place for everything – including, studying, playing, exercising, pursuing extracurricular activities and relaxing.

    Relaxation | There must be non-negotiable time set aside for this. It is important to allow your child to relax and allow free play as this helps them recharge and reduce their stress levels.

    Be Supportive | Show appreciation for your child’s efforts and encourage and motivate them to do their best. It is not always about the accolades and the achievements but also about the road travelled. Avoid putting excessive pressure on them and be aware of your language and expressions used while talking to them.

    Also Read | 5 Healthy Tiffin Ideas For Your School-Goer

    Communication | Encourage open communication with your child, so that they feel free to openly talk about their fears, anxieties, feelings and concerns. Listen to them and help them find solutions to their everyday problems and conflicts and empower them to feel unique and special.

    It is our responsibility as parents to help our kids manoeuvre their load and seek balance from time to time. We need to set realistic expectations, prioritise activities and schoolwork, help create a schedule, and encourage them to learn and explore all that life has to offer but, without getting thrown off and overwhelmed. Remember, life is not about doing more, but doing what is right and meaningful for your child’s overall physical and emotional well-being.

    Nandini Raman is a Consultant Counsellor; Corporate Trainer; and Columnist with a leading English newspaper. She contributes to a successful weekly column on career guidance and choices. With more than fifteen years of experience in the field, Nandini is a guest faculty at many prestigious schools, colleges and training institutions. She is a hands-on parent to two teenagers.

      Subscribe to Membership Plan

      *Unlock all premium content and benefits:
      Read more from Latest Stories

      Careers360 helping shape your Career for a better tomorrow

      student

      250M+

      Students

      colleges

      30,000+

      Colleges

      exams

      500+

      Exams

      ebook

      1500+

      E-Books

      Download Careers360 App's

      Regular exam updates, QnA, Predictors, College Applications & E-books now on your Mobile

      • student
        250M+

        Students

      • colleges
        30,000+

        Colleges

      • exams
        500+

        Exams

      • ebook
        1500+

        E-Books

      • certification
        12000+

        Cetifications

      student
      Mobile Screen

      We Appeared in