Why Kids Cry At School

It’s normal for children to shed tears and it’s also normal for a parent to be frustrated by a child who cries often. Before your child learns how to talk, it can be quite tricky to figure out why your child is crying. Even when kids do begin to verbalize, the reason a kid is crying might not be rational and one of them were attending school. It can be a tense experience for some children particularly children with special needs as it can make them face social exclusion. Also, it can make them find their work confusing and stressful. As a parent, you feel like resolving the issue without much of fuss and in that case, it would be better if you could find out why kids cry at school probably then you would be able to help your kids in overcoming their fears.

The Child May Cry Because of the Following Reasons –

• Fear of the Unknown –

A child’s mind is in a formative stage and it is bound to resist change of going to an unknown place (i.e. school) from his secure and comfortable home environs. So, when you start his schooling, he is inclined to feel the fear of the unknown as he is not sure about what will happen in school. Moreover, a child is not away from his parents till that time so the idea of being away from the parents is quite unacceptable to him. All these factors play an important part in making your child cry at school. It is important that parents try to make the child realize that going to school is fun. They should understand their child’s fears and rather than threatening them with punishments, they should deal with the situation in a matured manner. Any such adverse action from the parents will develop a dislike of the child towards the school.

• Temper Tantrums –

Your child may become prone to throwing tantrums in public. These are caused by frustration from something which has made the child angry. It is either because the child is not strong enough or because his body is not physically capable enough to do something. If the child’s body is not well coordinated enough to perform some activity, he will feel angry. The child needs to give vent to his disgust by crying and you should be prepared for it.

• Clashes in the family –

If your child perceives a lot of disgust and confrontation in the family, he is bound to feel uncomfortable which expresses in the form of anger. Children have a tendency to be peacemakers in the family so when they find the safety of their home at risk, they are naturally inclined to feel worse, carry that same feeling at school and cry due to the fact that they fail to trust a new person so good parenting necessitates that you work towards your child so that he feels safe at school and actually finds it to be fun.

But still saying goodbye on that first day can be the hardest moment for both parents and child. There are lots of ways on how to deal with it but it is you who has to understand your child and work on strategies to deal with it in the best possible way.

Here are a Few Tips on How to Ease the Separation Anxiety –

• Visit your child’s classroom a few times before school starts to familiarize him with space.

• Have your child meet his teacher.

• Explain beforehand your drop-off procedure so the child is completely aware of what will happen, tell him when you’ll be back, and from where you’ll be picking him up.

• Involve your child’s class teacher in the process as she will be left with your crying child.

• Don’t prolong the goodbye as it may make the separation difficult for the child.

• Ensure that your child knows that you’ve left so never ever sneak out.

• Try to appear relaxed with a happy or calm expression because if you feel guilty or worried about leaving the child at school, he will probably sense that. Thus it is important to be more calm and assured and the same will translate into your child and he will also be more confident and assured at school.

It is natural for your young child to feel anxious when you say goodbye to them particularly at the school. Although it can be difficult, separation anxiety is a normal stage of development. With understanding, patience and coping strategies, it can be relieved and should fade as the child gets older. It’s also worth noting that for some kids, crying and howling at drop-off can last for weeks and may reappear after school holidays for a few days.

This could be a sign of ‘Separation anxiety’ disorder and it causes fears that may limit a child’s ability to engage in school life and this is not a normal stage of development. If such a scenario persists then you must visit a child psychologist or even an anxiety clinic to resolve the matter.