There are almost 7% of Australian children battling the effects of anxiety, that’s almost 1 in 7 children!
It’s the second most common mental health ailment in the country, and many parents and teachers are unaware kids in their homes and classes are grappling with it.
Almost all of these 560,000 children notably struggle with being alone, isolated or alienated from friends and family, which, if left unseen, can morph into separation anxiety disorder.
What’s even more worrying, these figures are pre-covid sourced from a study (The Second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (Young Minds Matter) which was released in 2015.
Seven years on, the figures are expected to be far higher. Griffith University has recently called for feedback and input into a new study that will reveal updated numbers, which from early indications, will shock.
Experts like early childhood educator and children’s book author Laura Tava-Petrelli have already seeing an escalation. With more than 30 years racked up in the education system, Laura a mother with 3 grown children of her own, said “The level of resilience children are displaying is decreasing significantly, and the same can be said for parents”.
“Instead of settling into pre-school in the first 2 weeks of term, it’s taking some children a whole year and then some. They have trouble connecting, can’t settle because they are nervous with butterflies in their tummy and a mind full of worry that prevents them from focusing or functioning. As teachers, we go out of our way to help make children comfortable, safe and happy, but a significant amount of children’s anxiety over the past couple of years has come from parental stress and anxiety, and children being isolated during and since Covid which has exaggerated signs and the number of children it’s affecting.” Laura said.
“Years ago, we’d see 1 in 100 children showing any kind of anxiety signs, now it’s more like 1/3 of the class struggling with classic anxiety signs like the urge to fight or flight.”
In an attempt to open the conversation between parents, carers and children, Laura has been penning out a series of books for children and parents. Her books highlight situations that often come up such as when things go wrong, when they feel alienated, scared, angry, sad, or let down, but also guide them through it, understanding the feelings and becoming more resilient in bouncing back.
“Alina represents a lot of the children I have taught. In Alina All Alone she has things go wrong, gets upset about them, loses her bundle but keeps going, and perseveres using problem solving skills to get through it.”
“Kids need to be shown it’s ok. We will have things go pear shaped, or feel loss, or alone from time to time, but knowing it will all be ok, and they can move through it, is how they become resilient, stronger and more confident about their own abilities and place in the world.”
The ‘Alina’ series of books demonstrate what we would all love our children to have in their emotional toolboxes. Laura’s books provide a great opportunity for parents to sit down and have open communication and gain important insight into their own children, and implement strategies early on before subtle anxiety becomes a disorder, or other behaviours or inabilities transpire into greater issues they find themselves battling with into adulthood.
“Life can get pretty busy and complicated, pin-pointing these issues in the early years helps children to develop with greater awareness, build resilience, learn to problem solve, and be comfortable talking about what they’re feeling or experiencing, all of which are essentials for later in life to having healthy self-esteem, empathy, confidence, and self-knowledge”.
To help parents, Laura says they can look out for which may be pre-cursors to anxiety that emerge either emotionally or physical. Some flags to look out for are;
· Children asking the same questions repeatedly needing reassurance about a new or worrying situation.
· Children having trouble sleeping, wetting the bed after being toilet trained, constant nightmares.
· Children exhibiting challenging behaviours like temper tantrums, or a normally vibrant child being unusually quiet or reserved constantly ,or clingy.
· Children not listening to, or constantly not following instructions because their mind is elsewhere worrying about something.
· And peer stress from social media platforms. Scott Morrison over the weekend announced a $23million esafety schools package to support children’s mental health.
“Sometimes it can be as simple as spending 15 minutes of quality one on one time each day to talk and say “Hey, you’ve got this”, or making that space available for them so they can open up, and you can help them pinpoint where they are on the ‘Zones of Regulation’ chart to help them understand where they are emotionally, and empower them to come up with a way they move from one zone to another to feel better.”
Alina All Alone is a fantastic educational and reflection opportunity for both parents and children to discuss how or what could have been done differently to achieve a more positive, happier, calmer, or more successful result incorporating emotional regulation and skills.
“Parenting can be tough, as a mum and teacher I totally understand this which is why I wrote Alina All Alone, to help instigate those important conversations, take action early and help children develop into resilient, confident people with greater self-esteem and capacity to problem solve.”
Alina All Alone Paperback – 9780228868712 $19.99 Hardback – 9780228868705 $29.99
Available in bookstores and online at https://www.amazon.com/Alina-All-Alone-Laura-Tava-Petrelli/dp/0228868718
Author can be booked
