Why are children today more prone to stress than we were 20 years ago?
We'd like to look deeper into this issue and look at some of the things that may be causing stress and anxiety. We'll also highlight 5 tips to help relieve stress and anxiety in children.
2020 is a year blessed with technological developments and advancements in science. We live in a world where we have a gadget for nearly everything, and now, we don't even need to leave the home to meet up with someone - nearly everything can be done online. So despite all these advancements, why are more and more people, including children, more stressed, anxious, or even depressed lately?
Ironically, these technological devices may cause more isolation than freedom. Using Whatsapp to speak with family may feel more stressful than good because we're being made aware that we're not physically with them. Or maybe buying our food shopping online may be causing anxiety in the long-run as we're slowly removing ourselves from society and social interaction.
In children, there may be more factors for feeling high amounts of stress and anxiety than in adults. Firstly, children are still young and are expected to "go along" with a fast-paced lifestyle that us adults can even find difficult to cope with at times. With a fast-paced society, it's hard to stay focused and mindful of our current situation, including how we are feeling.
When multi-tasking has become the norm in society, naturally stress and worry build up too - particularly in children who are expected to cope and "adapt". Giving children more than they can bare has become normalised by some of us keen to sign our children up to an array of extra curricular activities after school to keep up with the high demands of society. In reality, what children really need is some time to unwind from a '7-hour day' at school. They need time to process what they've been exposed to as the over-stimulation can cause feelings of stress and anxiety when children don't have time to relax.
Another huge factor in our opinion is the use of computer games played by some children for several hours a day - no boundaries present nor any parental monitoring. The amount of violence and aggression found in these games are incredibly disturbing to say the least. Children may show signs of less self-control, anti-social behaviour and disregard for the consequences for their actions (read more here).
So what can we do to help our children prosper and remain healthy both mentally and physically?
Our 5 tips for Stress-Relief
1. Walking
Walking and light, enjoyable exercise is a great way to clear your thoughts and reconnect with the surroundings around you. Walking in the park is also great for kids as the exposure to nature and 'running wild' feels good for them. Us humans were not created for a sedentary lifestyle, we are not designed to sit round for long hours. By letting our children loose into nature, we help provide a remedy that will help heal some of the stresses and anxieties.
2. Cooking/Baking
Yes, cooking! Some parents in today's society cannot make sense of children cooking in a hazardous environment because it doesn't feel 'safe' for them, however, with parental monitoring, explaining health and safety practises in the Kitchen, and sheer patience, your children will experience many positivities within themselves such as increasing in self confidence, an understanding of healthy food choices, as well as exposure to creativity and enjoyment.
Many cultural backgrounds had been adopting this practice out of necessity for centuries, so why has it been dropped by modern society? We feel this practice will encourage any child to leave the computer game for a while to make something both satisfying and tangible in reward - unlike winning a virtual game. Start with a simple recipe that your child enjoys eating and then you can introduce other ingredients by playing a blindfolded 'taste test' game with ingredients they're not comfortable with – we're pretty sure they'll like things they never thought they did!
3. Sewing
Be it hand sewing, hand knitting, or our favourite - hand embroidery & embellishment, sewing is a craft that's incredibly satisfying because of the immediate outcome of this action. It allows children to focus on one particular exercise, diverting their wondering thoughts and anxieties into the present task of hand sewing. After learning these skills, they'll be able to use it as a hobby rather than a chore (not another after school activity!).
Sewing is also great for their fine motor skills, so if your child is struggling to write or hold a pen correctly, hand sewing can provide a gentle exercise for their fine motor skill development that's both fun and pain-free.
My little cousin has started to cut down his computer gaming time to hand embellish using his box of "treasure" – his materials and beads that he takes pride storing away in his precious box. He has found it incredibly fascinating that he was capable of hand embellishing with no prior experience – I taught him the basics in 1 day and he was ready to "take on the world". He explained to me about his creative process and how his accidental move created a new design which he was so fond of. He felt so excited as he was telling me about his new accidental design that I had to show my sheer excitement so he felt heard and loved. This simple act can increase love and security for a child and reduce feelings of any ill feelings they are experiencing at the time. Remember, show enthusiasm in what your children make so their connection to the craft increases and blossoms into a loveable, enjoyable and rewarding hobby that will help them relieve stress and anxiety.
If you'd like your children to learn how to hand embellish, find out more here.
4. Reading Favourite Books
Some children loathe the idea of pleasurable reading – we think that's because they haven't found their favourite book yet! Once a child finds their favourite author or genre, they'll be immersing themselves into a new world – their own world – that can take them out of stressful and anxious thoughts.
Reading does so much more than just provide children with an imaginative world to escape to – it improves children's reading, writing and speaking abilities. Pleasurable reading increases children's vocabulary, their sentence structure and will also improve their grammar without forcefully learning it. Thanks to research conducted by Stephen D Krashen, "acquiring" your language is more effective than "learning it". Pleasurable reading is one of the best ways of acquiring your language because of the frequent exposure to grammatically correct sentence structures and new vocabulary (amongst other things), which can be particularly useful for children with learning difficulties who struggle to memorise and consciously learn. These children can instead improve their academic abilities in a natural, enjoyable and fun way through pleasurable reading.
5. Family Time
Being a good role model in the way you handle stress and anxiety is key for children to learn from and aspire to. Not only this, but children will also need to feel secure and safe within their homes. The best way to do this is to speak with them frequently by encouraging them to open up with any worries they may be feeling but struggling to deal with alone.
We feel the best way to adopt this is to turn this into a routine. Find a day and time in the day or week where you get together with your children – either one-on-one or collectively – to speak about their day or week and anything that's been running through their minds. Couple this exercise with something fun and enjoyable that you'll all do as a family afterwards and watch this increase the love and security within the family.
Some ideas can involve praying together, going out for dinner together, visits to exhibitions or events that your children are interested in, funfairs or playgrounds, and even something as simple as having a games night at home with a traditional board game or quiz.
Talking is often the best remedy for handling children's stresses and anxieties and something that can show instant results. It's priceless and more affective than we think.
Let's Beat Stress Together
With the growing number of mental health cases across the world, we need to take a deep look at our lifestyle and actions to find the culprit for our children's stress-triggers. Most of the time it can be out of our control, but we can certainly make changes in our lifestyle to improve the feelings of stress and anxiety, particularly for our children. The earlier we introduce interventions, the more likely our children will grow into healthier adults both mentally and physically.
If you'd like to learn more about our online or face-to-face hand embellishment or embroidery classes, get in touch with us at themuslimcraftclub@gmail.com or check us out on www.themuslimcraftclub.com
We hope you have a healthy week.
The Muslim Craft Club
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