September 5, 2018

Helping Teenagers Adjust To The Demands Of The New School Year.

The words “back to school” may strike horror in many students. However, you do not have to be one of them. Returning to school after the summer holiday is certainly a challenge but, with a little effort, you can avoid the “back-to-school blues.” Dr. Andrew Adler, Director of and Clinical Psychologist at the Adler Family Centre, provides these suggestions on how to start the school year with confidence:

• Get enough sleep. If you get less sleep than you need, you are likely to become stressed, irritable and forgetful. Getting enough sleep, on the other hand, will help you perform better on exams because you won’t be as stressed, and you’ll remember more of what you studied.
• Eat breakfast. Research tells us that eating breakfast gives us the energy to focus on our work the rest of the day. By making sure you eat breakfast, you are more likely to have an enjoyable and productive day.
• Become and stay organised. Keeping track of assignments is extremely important and requires excellent organisational strategies. It is best to write your assignments, either in a notebook or on your phone (if allowed).
• Maintain old friendships, make new friends. With students taking different classes each school year, it is easy to lose track of friends. You will enjoy school more if you make an effort at the beginning of the year to seek out your friends from last year.
• Stay on top of your work. To stay on top of your work, try not to fall behind. Even if the work seems more difficult or if you don’t understand something, make your best effort to complete all your assignments as it only becomes more difficult to catch up later.
• Talk to and seek help from others. Never go it alone. If you are feeling overwhelmed or are worried about your schoolwork, it is always a good idea to talk with another person close to you.