Local expert says AI and social media is making exam stress more intense than ever
It comes following new data as we head into exam season
A Surrey expert is telling us that AI and social media is leading to exam stress being more intense than ever
New data from the mental health charity ' Chirpy shows nearly half of all secondary school children are feeling anxious about school multiple times a week
Jo Rodriguez is a psychologist from Guildford, she says exam stress is completely different for this generation compared to previous ones
"The demands on them are so great these days and they are completely different to the demands that adults had on them when they were children. So social media comparison, that is so much higher these days than it was during previous times."
Jo explains what the key symptoms of exam stress are for parents to look out for
"The signs that they might notice that the young person is struggling, first of all, might be seemingly withdrawn, not enjoying things that they used to enjoy, seeming like they're not able to concentrate, not able to focus.
To a lot of parents, it might come across as they might be perceived as being lazy, or they're not putting in the effort or they're procrastinating.
But really that's often a sign that the young person is struggling. They're really struggling to focus, they're really struggling to, and it's because they're feeling so anxious about what's happening."
The new data also showed just under one in five parents were unsure which school pressures have the biggest impact on their child, and 4 in 10 find supporting their child’s mental wellbeing stressful.
Jo added that a common mistake she sees is parents trying to apply quick fixes and push too hard
So because a lot of the behaviours that young people show when they're struggling come across to parents as maybe like defensive, being a bit more angry and irritable, shutting themselves away more. Parents can often react to that by pushing harder.
It's a very natural thing to do. We push and then we try and fix. And actually maybe what our young people need more is that we stop pushing and try to listen more."
According to the data, the levels of exam stress is consistently on the rise, Jo suggested what could be done to maybe stop the rise
Building in resilience programs, emotional wellbeing programs, helping young people to understand what anxiety is, helping young people to realize that, you know, how comparison comes in on social media, why it's so helpful to limit that."