[seosoftseo]

Preetha suddenly started getting severe headaches last week and was unable to prepare for the Class 12 boards. The tests and scans prescribed by doctors did not reveal the true nature of her illness. Finally, her parents took her to a psychiatrist. She was diagnosed with performance anxiety, because she was afraid of disappointing her teachers who “pinned their hopes on her” to come first in the school.

“It is not just the poorly performing children who get stressed before or during the exams. As the exams draw closer I find school toppers coming to me for help because schools are putting too much pressure on them,” said psychiatrist Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar, who also runs the Sneha Suicide Helpline. She said in the last three weeks she had come across four children, studying in leading schools in south Chennai, who experienced extreme stress that kept them from performing their regular duties.

In a misguided attempt to motivate children to maximize their potential, teachers are known to give them afew marks less so they can ask them to do even better. Sometimes they tell their students that they should study for at least 12 hours a day. One school pitted two Class 10 boys who study well against each other, with the teachers taking sides. “On one hand, the children are happy that the teachers believe in them but on the other hand they fear they would disappoint them,” Dr Lakshmi said.

Though Preetha was advised to squeeze in a little time for physical activity and some TV time between her exam preparations, her teachers who insisted on seeing her daily plan told her to give up everything else but studying. One school principal, who declined to be named, said, “Some parents and teachers make the mistake of enforcing a concentration camp-like atmosphere as soon as the child reaches Class 10 or 12. I think it is the responsibility of teachers and parents to also ensure that the child is physically and mentally fit to take up something as stressful as a board exam.”

Principal and correspondent of Zion Group of Schools N Vijayan said he motivated the toppers in his school by giving them the choice of teacher who they would like to support them in their exam preparation.

The exam season has officially begun with the first batch of Class 12 students in the state taking their science practical exams on Thursday. The theory exams begin on March 8.

-times of india chennai