24 May 2016
As students prepare for end-of-year exams, child psychologist Kimberley O'Brien, from Sydney's Quirky Kid Clinic, has some good advice to help families manage pre-exam stress.
"Stress isn't necessarily a bad thing – adrenalin can be useful in helping kids stay on track, study longer and finish tasks more quickly," Kimberley says.
"The problems arise when it takes over and your teenager starts to feel overwhelmed and even isolated."
In a perfect world, your teenager will have organised their study and revision into manageable chunks throughout the year, balancing work with social activities, exercise and plenty of sleep.
But in the real world, most kids have some level of pre-exam anxiety and some wake up the morning of an exam convinced that they "know nothing" at all.
According to Kimberley, the best thing parents can do as exams approach is provide support with the basics, restrain the desire to jump in and fix everything, and encourage their child to see the "big picture".
Read more about managing exam stress on the School A to Z website.