Preparing for School Transitions
June 2006
Though summer break has not even yet begun, many parents are already gearing up for their child’s transition to another school year. Its arrival can bring anxiety and stress, which may translate into family tension. This makes the transition even harder.
To the student, summer vacation is like a weekend: June is Friday night, July is Saturday, and once August is posted on the calendar, Sunday is with us. Back to school means there will be no more going to bed late, sleeping in every morning, or playing outside until dark. The routine has to change. The feelings a child has as they anticipate the transition range from anticipation to anxiety to panic.
Life transitions, such as going back to school, are often overlooked as an opportunity to help youth thrive. School transitions are important life events, when the development of prevention interventions should be encouraged. Difficulties in adjusting to school transitions heighten the potential for developing more serious problems, such as alcohol and other drug use and dropping out of school. There is an increased importance of peers and belonging to a crowd and close emotional ties to parents are challenged as adolescents begin to exercise their independence and individuality. These simultaneous occurrences create a serious challenge for youth and an occasion for prevention specialists to help them meet the challenge.
The definition of stress and our understanding of how youth cope and adapt is still developing. The goals of prevention have also taken new shape over the years. Initially, our focus was on cause and effect – What went wrong to make a person experiment with alcohol or other drugs? Since then, applied researchers have gained a greater understanding of transitions, stress, and coping. Currently, prevention specialists are targeting the more extensive goals of fostering healthy environments, lifestyles, and behaviors – figuring out what young people need to succeed.
Learning to cope with stress is essential to children’s healthy development. Effective coping is a resilient response to stress, functioning both to solve problems and manage emotional trauma. Numerous studies identify school transitions as a likely source of stress, which force children and youth to tap into their coping skills. These coping skills may include:
• Redefining roles and expected behaviors
• Shifting membership in and position within social networks
• Reorganizing social support resources
• Restructuring ways of cognitive appraisal
Issues as complex as the onset of alcohol and other drug use problems require equally complex preventive interventions. One starting point could be creating a sense of belonging for children and youth who otherwise may experience feelings of alienation, abandonment, and a hopeless future. The sense of belonging may be particularly valuable at school during times of transition, when children and youth are particularly vulnerable and perhaps more open to intervention.
Buddy system programs designed to provide peer contact for a few days or weeks and orientation programs, which may include a school tour and information packet, help promote a sense of belonging by helping students make new friends, meet new teachers, and find classes, lockers, and buses. Your school may already have adopted these and other effective strategies, however, parents also play a critical role at this time.
The attached handout, “School Transitions ~ Tips for Parents” includes a list of things that parents can do to promote a smooth transition as their child goes back to school. You may want to include it with any back-to-school materials your school mails out during the summer months.
For additional information on promoting resiliency among youth, please contact NCADD at 732-254-3344.
