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Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Easing back-to-school jitters

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta  


(CNN) -- School already has begun in some parts of the country, while it's a few days away elsewhere. Most children aren't too thrilled about having to hit the books, and school even can be a source of anxiety for some. What can parents do to help ease the back-to-school transition?

CNN's medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, offered a few tips Monday.

GUPTA: [Going back to school] can be an anxiety-provoking time. No question about it, and especially 5- to 7-year-olds and 11- to 14-year-olds. Those kids are likely to call in sick the first couple of days in part because [of] a new day of school.

Also in part because it's usually a new school in those age groups. So a lot of those kids are very concerned. Kids can worry about just about anything. And no doubt they worry if their teachers are going to like them, if their colleagues are going to like them, how are they going to get home after school. They have all of these concerns that may seem pretty obvious to parents but not all so obvious to the kids.

And that leads to a lot of different tips that parents can hear about from various experts, and also kids can keep track as well.

  • For the parents, display calm and confidence. The kids pick up on that. No question about it.
  • You might want to actually get the kids to play school ahead of time, especially if it's their first time at a school period. They might get a sense of what will really happen at school.
  • Shift the schedules to an earlier time for sleep. This is something that kind of helps all of us through any kind of transition, actually making sure that we get actually awake at the time we're supposed to be awake.
  • Visit the school and meet with the teacher ahead of time.
  • Make pals with the other kids. Some parents will set up play dates with the other kids after the first day of school so they will be able to have a familiar face, be able to meet with them afterward.
  • Phone numbers -- make sure they know your home phone number, make sure they know the phone number of information, things like that. There are also some tips on actually easing jitters for the first day of school. You know, for the first day, this can be the most strenuous day for sure.
  • Pack a comfort item. We always hear about blankets, things like that. A familiar food might do it for some kids. They may feel better.
  • Keep the goodbyes short. It may be very hard to actually pry a clinging kid away from your leg, but it's a really important thing to do. Say goodbye, move on, "We'll see you at the end of the day."
  • Focus on all of the good things at school, certainly the play time, the recess time, the fact they will be learning. Those are very important things for the kids to know as well.
  • And allow the child to be a little needy the first few days. Certainly if it gets beyond a couple of days, that's going to be a long time, but the first few days, it's not unexpected the kid's going to have some anxiety, is going to be somewhat needy.


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