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CoVid has disrupted student wellbeing for more than 2 years. Ever changing rules that don’t make sense to them yet must be followed have seen a rise in basic measure of stress. A recent study reported 40 per cent said it’s been difficult to learn content needed for exams, one in five said they didn’t have an appropriate place to study and 23 per cent said their plans for study or work after school have changed. Source: ReachOut Exam stress levels from December 2019 – 2020 have doubled, from 26% to 56%. The worst statistic from the study was the revelation that significantly less students accessed professional support services. Our kids are more stressed about exams without support and are about to enter the exam phase of their education. Stress Statistics Specific to StudentsAs we examine the deeper impacts of CoVid, it is easy to run through what was impacted by government policy. We may miss the cause of stress if this is our focus. Lockdowns are a total disaster for human beings. Not only students but for families and even the dogs in the house. Three aspects of our lives were forcibly altered.
The number of students unable to focus doubled to 68 per cent, up from 33 per cent in December 2020. 57 per cent were having trouble sleeping, up from 32 per cent in December 2020. 39 per cent reported poor nutrition, up from 18 per cent in December 2020 and 32 per cent reported that they had experienced issues with their family, up from 16 per cent in December 2020. Source: ReachOut Sport Provides Stress Specific Support for Stressed StudentsIt is my first post-pandemic class. Students entered the playground under strictly controlled environments, classroom bubbles and many restrictions There was no way to contain students within their boundaries. For more than an hour the sany oggy playground was an activity free-for-all. Any limits had to wait until the students were physically exhausted. Thankfully this didn’t take long as their fitness levels were very low from lockdown restrictions. I tore up my lessons for the day. I asked students what the game, activity or sport was that they had missed more than any other for the past 2 years. Each year level made their selections, leaving me the unenviable task applying student safety practices to their choices. 7 classes, back to back, ran overtime and students relearned the joy of movement. Behaviour was excellent, effort levels extremely high, and the obvious joy seen in each student amazing. Not dissimilar to the first 10 - 30 minutes of a dog unleashed in the park. So what was really happening? Humans and dogs hormonal responses to exercise is essentially the same. Exercise increases serotonin, dopamine and even oxytocin: all known ‘feel good’ hormones. Our brains know this and seek to create situations where the body can boost levels of these proteins, knowing they make us feel pleasure. During lockdowns, our bodies were unable to produce these hormones as we were ever more restricted in our movements. The hormone imbalance creates 2 issues for our mental wellbeing. Firstly, we become depressed or despondent, or simply ‘feel bad.’ Our brain doesn’t like that, and seeks to restore the balance. As it is unable to do so stress producing steroids play a greater role in our mood. We could take drugs, eat sweet things or try to feel better playing on social media, but none are as fast and effective as reducing stress as exercise. Stop reading right now and do 20 star jumps! Eating Resulting in Weight Gain
Screen time reduces sleep quality and influences our thinkingScreen time has become a major issue in day to day life and play. It has been shown to be so detrimental to many aspects of student lives that device manufacturers have been forced by government legislation to provide systems for measuring and controlling the amount of time children and young people spend staring into devices, playing games, on social media, watching videos or even doing their school. With 57% of students identifying poor quality and length of sleep, we must view this as a serious issue. Our mind remains more active when we are not physically tired, needing to recover. Sport and exercise provide affordable methods of tiring out kids physical bodies so that they sleep better. This is especially true when we improve students diets and reduce screen time 3 hours before bed. Sport and Exercise as Exam Stress RelieversExams stress students who want to achieve good marks. When students study for many hours it is highly likely that their diet includes a lot of empty, sweet and fatty calories. More advanced students are often required to study online meaning as they study, their screen time increases. Studying an hour less to enjoy a hard and fast basketball, soccer or swimming session is highly beneficial to student exam outcomes. Not only does it reduce the exam stress; it improves fitness and cognition. When we are studying, who doesn’t benefit from better thinking? #increasesport #screentime #examstress #mentalhealth #ReachOut  Comments are closed.
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