Do you think your child may suffer from social anxiety? Do you find it difficult to relate to your peers and do you often feel fear, anguish or shame in everyday situations? Does he worry a lot about being made fun of or making fun of himself?
In this article we show it to you some parameters that allow to evaluate social anxiety in children. In addition, we offer some tips that can be of great help to parents facing this situation.
social anxiety in children
Social anxiety has been scientifically evaluated, as indicated by Spanish researchers, to establish parameters, among which the following are taken into consideration:
- Depression.
- Anxiety.
- Social fears.
- Fear of negative evaluations from peers.
- Social discomfort in the presence of new partners, partners of the opposite sex, etc.
It’s important for parents to know that for social anxiety to be, it doesn’t have to affect the family environment. That means, these children must always have had normal abilities to connect with their families.
Tips to help you
With these suggestions we try to help parents change the behavior of their children who suffer from social anxiety. As, try to act on their attitudes and emotions.
The first step consists of evaluate the child’s behaviors to find out if, in fact, it is social anxiety. In other cases, it may be more related to family issues. For example, in the event of a divorce.
1. Know if my child has social anxiety
In what types of situations does social anxiety manifest itself? Parents and teachers are the first to notice, for example, these cases:
- The child is worried about being teased, laughed at or talked about, especially behind his back.
- He has difficulty asking them to play with him or making them an invitation for fear of rejection.
- You may feel nervous about performing in front of other peers, especially if they’re strangers.
- He is very embarrassed to speak in public.
- It distresses him to be ridiculous.
2. Positive and controlled use of the Internet
Internet use is on the rise and parents are facing a real challenge to control and limit their children’s access. However, although they must always be aware, Some studies such as the one published in 2005 in the journal Personality and individual differences demonstrate that it can be beneficial in cases of social anxiety.
The anonymity and freedom offered by the Internet it’s a good way for these kids to make new friends and share ideas and concerns. In this context they may feel a great lack of inhibition, the opposite of what they feel in real contexts.
However, The internet can be a risk if your child spends too much time in front of the screen without parental supervision. This could also be related to higher levels of anxiety in general.
3. Can you be bullied?
Research in this direction shows a relationship between social anxiety and bullying, in some cases. In this sense, Both the child could be the victim and the observer of this type of situation affecting some colleagues.
In this case, it is essential to talk to the child’s teacher to get his or her point of view. Also, some centers have specific programs or mechanisms of action to support this type of behavior.
Some of these programs even have a playful format. In this way, while the children play, they become aware of common problems and dare to share some fears, feeling more secure and supported by their peers and teachers.
4. Academic performance
Talking to the teacher can also be very helpful. If we have detected problems with your child’s academic performance. If these appear suddenly and without an apparent explanation, we should always suspect social anxiety.
It must be taken into account the child does not feel comfortable among his peers, then you will have great difficulty in performing many tasks. For example, talking in front of other students, doing teamwork, playing games, etc.
We now know a little more about what social anxiety consists of in children and what its specific features are in their daily behavior. We should not hesitate to seek help from teachers, pedagogues or psychologists, depending on the case, to be able to face and overcome our child’s problem.
The post Does your child suffer from social anxiety? 4 tips to help you first appeared in research-school.