They Say: Kids More Stressed Than We Think
Think your kids are stressed? According to the American Psychological Association, you don’t know the half of it.  The APA just released their Stress in America survey and for the first time ever, they included young people in the study. Not only did they discover that kids are more stressed than you might think, they also found that parents are often clueless about what their kids are worrying about.
More than 1,200 kids aged 8 to 17 were polled about issues relating to stress and, not surprisingly, 44% said that they worry about doing well in school. What is surprising, however, is that 30% of those surveyed admit to worrying about money. No, not their allowances. Kids are worried about the family finances.
In this economy, with so many parents worrying about money, it shouldn’t surprise us that our kids are picking up on it. But when asked what they thought their kids were worried about, the parents in the survey pointed to extracurricular activities. In reality, only about 10% of the kids surveyed said non-school activities were a source of stress.
Also interesting was what the survey revealed kids were not worrying about. Despite the fact that many parents assumed their children worry about family relationships, only 8% of kids agreed that their parents were a source of stress.
The upshot, says Stanley Greenspan, a clinical professor at George Washington University, is that parents need to tune in to what their kids are really feeling. Thinking that you are shielding them by not discussing financial worries is a mistake. They know what’s going on and they are worried.
Image: sxc.hu
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Tags: apa survey, economic worries, economy, family relationships, financial worries, kids stress, kids stressed, money worries, parenting teens, parents stress, sandy maple, stanley greenspan, stress, stressed kids, teen stress, teens
2 Comments
Laure68 commented on Nov 04 09 at 1:16 pmI am always surprised when people glorify childhood, saying how carefree it is. I remember it being quite difficult. (Especially the junior high years.) I’m much more happy and relaxed as an adult than I was as a tween/teen.
mommiedear commented on Nov 05 09 at 8:30 pmI think childhood is very hard! I dont remember it being carefree at all….I am sure I felt carefree when I was 2 or 3 but the older I got it didnt get any easier..school work social life juggling extra curricular activities was hard work and to maintain everything was too. It was parctice to be an adult I think as adults we accept the juggling so it gets easier but not in childhood.On http://www.truuconfessions.com moms will agree with me!
