When I talk about the emotional learning skills children need if they are to reach their learning potential I rarely mention how stress prevents children learning. Perhaps I should.
Stress, the kind of stress caused by persistent bullying, has been shown to lead to cognitive deficits in children but new research goes further, it shows that stress can affect the part of the brain associated with memory. Stress also changes the brain’s reaction to cortisol, the hormone that is produced in stressful situations.
Prolonged changes in the rate of cortisol production create changes in the brain, changes that prevent learning happening.
So maybe I should be talking about stress when i talk about the emotional learning skills children need.
But wait a moment, I tell parents that children need self confidence and self esteem if they are to become good learners. And children who are under stress are lacking in both these, even if only temporarily. So maybe I don’t have to add stress to my list of things that hamper learning, maybe i have got it covered when i talk of children needing to be self confident and to have good self esteem if they are going to be able to learn well.
Phew, that’s a relief!
Everyone suffers from stress at some time or another, just make sure that your child’s stress level is not too high and does not go on for too long or their brain will suffer. You know if your child is stressed, even if you may not know the cause.
