Educational Anxiety: Conflicts and Solutions

Educational Anxiety: Conflicts and Solutions

Morgan Wawrzynski

Arizona State University

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Introduction to the Problem

There is a major problem when dealing with anxiety in the classroom. When I was in

high school there was a girl that would have to be wheeled out of the classroom via a wheelchair

at least once a week because of severe anxiety attacks that would result in her failure to breath

and pass out or have a stroke mid class. This was an ongoing issue until we graduated, and I am

not really sure what they did to help her. Similarly, when I was in kindergarten, I witnessed the

aftermath of my brother’s suicide which caused extreme anxiety for me in the classroom. I felt

uncomfortable being there, I felt as though everyone was staring or talking about me and it put a

pause on my learning capabilities. There was nothing done by the school to help me through this

anxiety I was feeling. Often times students have these anxious feelings, while some may be very

noticeable, others suffer in the shadows begging for help. It is our duty as teachers to create safe

environments for our students and ensure there is maximum levels of comfortability. After all,

students are there to get an education, not stress out so badly they are going to the hospital once a

week.

A student’s anxiety issues should only be discussed between that student, their parents,

and teachers, and maybe a school counselor. By putting the burden of anxiety (in my case

watching my classmate collapse once a week) on other students, you are adding to their levels

rather than relieving anyone else’s. Students should feel comfortable enough to tell their parents

or teachers the anxiety they are facing in order to get help from a counselor. This can lead to

things such as finding triggers for the student, identifying when these episodes are going to occur

before they occur, finding a plan of action to prevent or control these episodes, and dealing with

the anxiety associated with them.

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Common causes of anxiety in the classroom I have seen includes things such as being put

on the spot when you are not fully aware of what is happening or do not have a thought-out

response yet, not understanding something and being too embarrassed to ask in front of the class,

and even sharing something and not feeling as though it was enough which can also lead to

doubt and insecurity. The biggest problems in the classroom deals with the environment of them.

When students feel safe in the classroom and comfortable with other students, they are more

likely to share in front of them. However, when students do not know their classmates, they feel

embarrassed or insecure sharing in front of them.

In order to relieve anxiety a plan of action should be set up. This could include daily

check ins to see how students feel, the use of colored cards that students can flip based off how

they are feeling in real time, get to know your activities that lead into the lesson rather than

simply starting the lecture, and validation of all comments and questions. It is time to throw

away the popsicle sticks and incorporate tools such as Padlet or the option to ask a question

anonymously. It is time to ensure our content and classrooms are enhancing student learning

rather than hindering it. Some barriers we will have to overcome may be dealing with what we

are programed as teachers to think. For example, many people say if you are scared of

something, tackle it head on, which can give teachers an idea to think “if you’re scared of public

speaking, the best way to overcome that is to put you in front of a class you barely know and ask

you to stand up and answer my questions.” The barrier to jump, then, would be to find new

strategies such as Padlet that students can share their comments without feeling like they are

being put on blast. Another barrier to hurdle through is the idea that if some of the students are

participating and show understanding, all of the students are understanding as well. Many

students with anxiety will not share if they are confused or they will pretend to understand things
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if they feel like their question was answered but not well enough. Student anxiety in a classroom

is a very real thing that can impact the way they react to situations their entire life. Rather than

“preparing them to meet the real world” we should prepare them to handle their emotions and

anxious tendencies when they face real-world problems.

Environmental Analysis

Internal Strengths and Weaknesses

Extra care and support should be given to students with anxiety as one would for a

student with disabilities. Anxiety is a more common theme throughout schools and the resources

for this growing problem are few. Students with anxiety deserve and have the right to an equal

opportunity at an adequate education. Teachers are not properly equipped with strategies and

tools to help anxious students, nor are they trained to identify when a student seems anxious or

has anxiety. According to the CDC, over four million children between the ages of 3-17 have

been diagnosed with anxiety and the number grows each year (Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, 2020). This is also only the number of those that were actually diagnosed. Although

guidance counselors are available to help these students, only the ones with severe anxiety issues

will attempt to get themselves help.

Teachers often have a mentality that forcing kids to do things they are not comfortable

with will help their anxiety when, in actuality, it adds to their anxious feelings and causes a

resentment of the class or school. The only resources given to teachers for students with anxiety

is the use of guidance counselors and the idea of creating safe environments in the classroom to

make the student feel comfortable. While a guidance counselor can be an extremely helpful

internal strength, it is not enough to stop all children from experiencing anxiety, nor is it a
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resource that can be used to prevent this behavior. If educators could attend some sort of training

program that practices identifying warning signs of anxiety or learn ways to cope and help within

the classroom, this would greatly influence the strength of internal resources for students.

Teachers are expected to know if their students are struggling with classwork or complications

they have within the home or social life and either help or get help, the same should apply with

signs of anxiety. If teachers are trained to identify earlier warning signs of anxiety, there will be

less anxiety attacks in the classroom and more productive and smoother days.

External Challenges and Opportunities

Some challenges a teacher may face when aiding a student with anxiety is the home life.

A student is only at school for 7 hours a day and only so much progress can be done in this time

frame. Situations such as homelessness, financial instability in the home, single or divorced

parents, and abuse are highly contributing factors that can cause student anxiety when they come

to school or when going home. If a student is facing serious anxiety at home, it can make

rehabilitation of the student much more difficult within the school hours. Anxiety at home can

also be a direct cause of anxiety seen in the classroom. While a teacher is required to create safe

spaces for students, this is not always the case in each home.

One great opportunity for aiding this would be the use of an accessible counselor a

student can reach out to at home or having children services check in on the student. By having

an external resource reach out to students at home, the quality of living may go up which would

reduce the anxiety levels in class. Another external resource and opportunity would be the use of

sports or extracurricular activities offered in the community. If the student becomes involved in
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something that may take them away from their home longer or allows them to make friends, they

may feel more comfortable, and this would greatly impact their behavior in the class. Groups

could also be set up such as a support group where students with anxiety can go and meet others

facing similar issues to allow them to understand and control their own emotions and anxious

feelings as well as how to ask for help from either a teacher or guidance counselor when these

feelings occur.

Stakeholder Analysis

By preventing, identifying, and eliminating student anxiety in the classroom, teachers are

setting these students up for success in and out of school. When teachers participate in practices

that help aid anxiety, anxious students and many others can benefit greatly. This benefit reaches

to other students within the classroom, other teachers, and administrators within the school, and

even the overall community. The benefits of teaching teachers to identify and handle anxious

students alone is tremendous; however, with the number of benefits reaching as far as the whole

community, it would be crazy not to educate teachers on these situations.

Implementing teacher programs to further assist with anxiety and other mental illnesses

can be very beneficial to all the students, including anxious ones. Even if a student is not

diagnosed with anxiety, they can still feel anxious or nervous about specific things. When a

teacher becomes trained in areas handling anxiety, they are less likely to put students in

situations that make them nervous, and they are more likely to identify and handle situations that

make all their students uncomfortable. For example, by learning possible triggers to an anxiety

attack or anxiety in general, teachers may be able to identify when a student has reached a peak

in their stress levels and stop it from going any further. Overall, teacher programs specializing in
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teaching educators how to handle mental illnesses benefits the whole class, not just ones

suffering from mental illness.

When students succeed in one classroom, they carry that success onto other classrooms

they go to and ultimately, other teachers and administrators reap this reward as well. For

example, if one teacher is trained and comfortable in identifying early signs of anxiety in

students, they are able to either handle it (which would make it easier for teachers in other

classes) or inform another teacher or administrator that is better able to handle it (still benefiting

those teachers and each classroom). If teachers are able to control their stressors and student

anxiety within the class, students will also be able to learn and cope with their own anxiety, thus

having reduced signs of anxiety within other classes. In addition, other teachers and

administrators can benefit because if stressors are reduced in one classroom, they will likely

come into their next class virtually stress free for the next teacher. If each classroom can reduce

stress levels for all students, this will also show positively on their grades and test scores which

will also benefit the district and administrators that depend on these higher testing scores and

overall grades. Teaching educators how to cope with mental illness in the long run will deeply

support their fellow teachers on top of their students.

Lastly, supporting students in schools with their mental illness ultimately affects and

benefits the overall community. When teachers are trained to cope with student anxiety, they can

also help students cope and identify their own stressors and how to handle them in and out of

school. According to the CDC 7.1% or over 4 million minors have been diagnosed with anxiety

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2), 2020, 1). This number does not include those

that are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. If 4 over 4 million students can be identified and helped

with the aid of their stressors inside the classroom, they can help themselves and support their
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communities outside of the classroom. Students dealing with anxiety are more likely to get

involved in their communities and ultimately make them better. Therefore, it is important to

educated teachers how to handle and help children cope with anxiety so they may take that skill

with them into their communities.

Teacher programs that discuss dealing with mental illnesses are highly needed

and should be mandatory regularly for all educators. These programs can greatly benefit students

facing mental illness and their peers, other educators, and administrators, and even the

community they belong to. These teacher training programs provide so many great opportunities

that each district should look into implementing them.

Review of Literature

One piece of research conducted found that by the time students get to higher education

their anxiety reaches one of the highest points throughout their academic career. The study

mentioned that anxiety can be caused by a feeling of not being able to achieve something and

this can cause other mental health issues and can even lead them to dropping out of school all

together (AlKandari, 2020, 1). This supports the fact that heavy research needs to be put into

relieving student’s anxiety early on. The longer a child goes with unresolved anxiety, the worse

it gets. This can lead to mental health issues such as depression or severe trauma. These

unresolved issues are often the reason many students drop out of high school and college. The

earlier this issue is fought in elementary school, the higher the graduation rates and levels of

academic success will be.

Chapter 3 of the study AlKandari conducted states the reasons students might face

anxiety in a school setting. One of these reasons for anxiety was due to studying a new language
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or if a student is studying material in a non-native language (AlKandari, 2020, 5). This is true for

students in any grade level that is studying in the United States as an English Language Learner

(ELL). Students come from different parts of the world with a common goal of receiving

adequate education and having to learn a new language just to continue your education can be

very stressful. Finding new ways to alleviate this stress for students will help with their overall

mental health and anxiety levels when progressing throughout school. This also shows that

homework or social life in school is the not only factor of student stress, but rather, it deals with

things that can easily be observed and controlled within the classroom. By training teachers to

understand and notice these issues in their own classroom, this can limit the number of students

who slip through the cracks and remain unnoticed. In other words, this is a very consequential

problem that remains unsolved.

It may seem impossible for one teacher to catch one student out of the many they see a

day to be evaluated for a form of anxiety. In fact, it may seem impossible for one teacher to

identify multiple students within all of their classes to be evaluated for anxiety disorders. This is

precisely why it is important to educate all employees of the school administration to identify

these symptoms. A study conducted found that the best way to do this would be through school

nurse screenings for anxiety and depression. “School nurses have an understanding of mental

health issues and thus can expedite linkages with school-based mental health professionals who

facilitate prompt attention and care for the child” (Allison, 2014, 2). It would definitely be

beneficial to put forth more resources and training into teaching nurses about mental health

factors and symptoms.

Research suggests that if more effort was put forth into teaching school staff how to

identify the warning signs of anxiety, help can be provided to these students early on. The
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National Association of School Nurses made a statement claiming that mental health is a key

role in the student’s academic success story and schools play an important role in the student’s

mental health as well (Allison, 2014, 4). Putting research into training teachers and especially

school nurses is a high necessity and seems to be an important school issue that needs to be

resolved in the school setting. It is a smart and beneficial idea to not only train these individuals,

but to put measures into place that provide screening opportunities for mental health issues

among students through the use of school nurses. They are highly trained individuals that should

have the skills to notice early signs of anxiety and other mental health issues in order to get the

right help for each student. Preventative measures and catching these symptoms early on can

reduce the amount of anxiety levels among high school and college students which will, in turn,

lead to a greater graduation rate.

Putting forth energy and time into training teachers and school staff to notice possible

signs of anxiety throughout the school day is so important other countries have already began

researching ways to handle it. The UK has recently put forth this energy to train school

employees to spot anxiety and although they have run into a few bumps, they seem to be making

great progress with their research. After giving school children aged 13-18 a test to rank what

they worry the most about, six out of the top ten answers were school related issues (Putwain,

2007, 208). These results heavily suggest that putting research into student anxiety and how to

relieve it is crucial for student success. There is a direct correlation between student anxiety,

student success, and the overall success rate of any given school. The less stress or full-blown

anxiety a student has, the more likely they are to be successful in the school setting. While there

is a difference between good and bad stress, most of the issues the students in the UK study

faced were negative and lead to some form of anxiety.

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This UK study concluded that most of the stress factors in any students lives have to deal

with school related activities and that there is a strong link between stress, anxiety, and overall

health of the body such as cardiovascular issues, and issues with the functions of the immune

system (Putwain, 2007, 209). In other words, neglecting to help students deal with their anxiety

early on cannot only risk their mental health, but it also risks their physical health and even their

life. Even implementing a one-day a month program to teach school staff how to identify

warning signs of anxiety would be beneficial to the students and would significantly lower the

rate of anxious students if teachers acted upon their training.

The United states is behind when it comes to worrying about the wellbeing of their

students in comparison to countries such as Britain or Ireland. As a country, the United States

has been able to identify that childhood anxiety and depression is a major and severe problem

with a direct correlation to health issues that they bring into their adult life, yet the entire country

has done very little to resolve this problem or put further research into it. The Centers for Disease

Controls and Prevention (CDC) overemphasizes the high need for careful evaluation to receive

the best diagnosis for the best treatment plan for each child such as behavior therapy, cognitive

behavioral therapy, or even better routines such as healthier food, physical activity, social

support, and sleep patterns (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020, 7-8). This raises

the question that, if the country is aware there is a major problem within the mental health of the

students (the future of the country) why is there nothing done to identify and speed up the

process of rehabilitation or therapy for these students? This is precisely why this problem is both

easily overlooked from the school’s radar and highly important to be solved as well.

The CDC also lists several resources that can help located either a psychologist,

psychiatrist, or therapist through their external links. Many people fail to use these resources at
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home because of various reasons including the cost, the availability, or simply not noticing that it

is needed. When a child is at school, that school acts as a temporary guardian, therefore the

school has as much responsibility to put forth care into the wellbeing of students as the parents

do. When teachers are shown how to identify these issues, and the correct team is provided by

the school, the issue can be heavily resolved. This leads to another great point when dealing with

research of care for student anxiety levels, putting forth energy into solving the problem within

the school by hiring on licensed therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists. Research has shown

that these are the best resources for treatment but the commonality between them is that they are

too expensive for families who already have anxiety about money problems. Therefore, by

adding these resources to the counselor team, the school is able to maximize the benefits in

reducing overall stress for all students. This can be done in a chain of events where a student is

referred to the nurse by a teacher, who is then screened and sent to the counselor team for proper

diagnosis and treatment. This will give students a solid foundation in attending higher education

and their everyday life in general.

The last piece of research I have found was conducted by Armando Pina, a professor of

psychology at Arizona State University and the founder of a program that puts forth preventative

measures for anxiety in young students called REACH for Success. In an interview with Pina, he

was asked why it is important to catch anxiety early on in which he replied,

“Targeting anxiety early is important because when ignored it can affect grades,

school performance, social and interpersonal skills, and life outcomes. The

longer one waits, the more at risk a person is for developing depression and even

substance-use problems. In addition, when anxiety becomes a disorder and a

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more severe problem, it is more difficult to treat and cure. There is no cure for

anxiety disorders, but they can be prevented” (Derra, 2015, 1).

In other words, Professor Pina states that without early prevention and measures put into place,

anxiety can leave lasting and devastating effects on a human. This is why the issue of anxiety

among students is such a big deal, it has a direct outcome on the future lives and wellbeing of

people who experience it.

Once again, it is worth the time and money to create a solid team in fighting against

anxiety and other mental illnesses within a school setting. Research proves that this is a major

problem that is in high need of solution, especially in the United States. This is a problem that

can be added to throughout several years but breaking the ground of creating a solution is

necessary immediately.

Proposal for Change

After reviewing the stakeholder and environmental analysis one can conclude the

seriousness and importance of aiding students with anxiety in a class setting. All students,

regardless of disability or mental illness, have the right to an adequate education. If a student

with anxiety goes unnoticed throughout their entire time in school, they have been failed by the

education system mentally. Student anxiety affects their overall rate of success through school

which in turn affects teachers, school districts, administrators, and even the communities the

students belong to. The main reason change needs to be made with how students with anxiety are

handled is because it affects everyone that the student encounters, not just the student. There are

many people in the world relying on these students being the next doctors or mechanical
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engineers that will shape the future for them and, unfortunately, the education system is not

setting them up for success.

Upon further research of the issue in general, I have found further evidence suggesting

the very importance of finding ways to relieve student anxiety. As stated in the “Review of

Literature” section, if student anxiety is not resolved early on it may lead to more serious issues

such as cardiovascular issues, other mental illnesses, failure in life, dropping out or not

furthering education, and it can even affect their physical health. By catching anxiety symptoms

early on, students can go through the necessary treatment whether that is through therapy or

medication. This early on help will help students to cope with their anxiety and stress as they

move on throughout their life and academic careers. Therefore, in order to provide an adequate

education and set students up for success, a program is needed to help these students with their

mental health as well as their physical health.

The only health initiative that seemingly took place was under the Obama Administration

with the healthy school lunch opportunities. Other forms of help have been attempted in different

countries but very few instances can be accounted for in the United States. As stated in the

“Review of Literature” section, the UK has attempted a couple programs and studies and a few

studies conducted showed that nurses can be an important tool for screening students for mental

health issues. I believe the best solution is still to implement teacher training programs at least

once a month on how to identify anxiety in students and how to make connections with students

to make them feel safe when talking about said anxiety.

After following up on additional research, I have found that this issue is much more

important than I originally thought and thus needs more attention. Not only should teachers and
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all school staff be trained on how to spot and handle anxiety among students, but the school

should actually be stocked with different tools to further support these students. The biggest

reason parents do not take their children to therapists, psychologists, or even psychiatrists are

because of the significant cost of them. Mental health is the type of issue that should not cost

someone to learn how to control. The school budget should be increased to hire on a full staffed

support teach in the counseling office. Counselors are already in control of scheduling students,

tracking their goals and progress, and IEP students, they do not have enough time or resources to

actually counsel students as well. This often leads to peer counseling which just causes more

problems to both students involved in this type of meeting.

Based on these observations above, the only reasonable solution to this problem is to

train teachers and budget in a therapist, psychologist, and psychiatrist to every counseling office

within every school. By having teachers trained to refer students to be screened for mental health

issues by the nurse and then sent to be diagnosed and helped by one of these new professionals at

no cost for the family, the student success rate and overall success rate of future adults would

increase dramatically. If it is required by law to provide a special needs resource teacher to

schools to support students with special needs, it should also be required for schools to hire the

essential resources to aid in mental health as well.

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References

Allison, V. L., Nativio, D. G., Mitchell, A. M., Ren, D., & Yuhasz, J. (2014). Identifying

Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety in Students in the School Setting. The Journal of

School Nursing, 30(3), 165–172. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059840513500076

AlKandari, N. Y. (2020, April 7). Students Anxiety Experiences in Higher Education Institutions

| Intech Open. Intech Open. https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/students-anxiety-

experiences-in-higher-education-institutions

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, June 15). Data and Statistics on Children’s

Mental Health | CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/data.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2). (2020, December 2). Anxiety and depression in

children: Get the facts | CDC.

https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/features/anxiety-depression-children.html

Derra, S. (2015, November 10). Why children’s worries should be everyone’s worries. ASU

News. https://news.asu.edu/20151110-importance-early-intervention-child-anxiety

Putwain, D. (2007). Researching academic stress and anxiety in students: some methodological

considerations. British Educational Research Journal, 33(2), 207–219.

https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920701208258
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