Many parents must have noticed that children are always stressed out about their performance and achievement in academic life. Such pressure can not only harm the children mentally but also physically, with symptoms like loss of appetite, irritation, and more.
Parents need to understand that the children living a healthy lifestyle must also manage the pressure they get through various situations, social circumstances, and stress. One of the most prominent problems of the younger generation navigating through their education and teenage lifestyle is performance pressure.
Get to know about performance pressure by reading below.
Performance pressure can happen for various reasons and many circumstances. However, the habit of comparing and feeling down remains common in all situations. performance pressure grows from comparing oneself to another going through the same situation.
It can be done by others integrating the thought of insecurity, or it can happen by self. Parents need to encourage children to be confident in themselves and stay unique without comparing others to self to eradicate the problem of performance pressure.
In simple words, performance pressure is the urge or pressure dominated by other people through their achievements or activities together to make a person or a child feel inferior to themselves, making them obligated to do the same task.
There are a few basic reasons that a child gets into the trap of performance pressure:
Unrealistic Expectations: Most of the younger generation have the urge to follow social media trends, which may or may not make sense to others. But to the children of the younger generation, it is one of the most important things that they should do to feel accepted in society. Setting unrealistic expectations by feeding the insecurity of kids can make the kids victims of performance pressure.
Jealousy And Competition: Jealousy and competition can also cause the kid to become involved in performance pressure. However, healthy competition does not count toward performance pressure because it always involves tracking progress within a certain time limit to complete the goal. Unhealthy competition is what makes the children compare, forming a grudge or jealousy.
Provocation: Provocation is another important aspect of performance pressure. A child is specifically instigated through various mediums, such as social media, school life, and others. It is fed into the minds of children, manipulating them into thinking that if they do not do a certain set of tasks or do not compete aggressively, they will be left behind.
Here are few ways to identify and manage performance pressure in children:
Open conversation and motivation can help children manage performance pressure by making them comfortable with themselves. Children who lack confidence in sharing different situations with their parents can also feel insecure, which can help parents recognize the pattern of performance pressure.
The hesitation due to lack of motivation can be identified as insecurity caused by performance pressure in children. To combat the situation of performance pressure with motivation and open communication is simple: help your children be comfortable and confident in their skin, progress with their pace, and see the steady results themselves.
Improper encouragement and emotional support can also lead children to the trap of performance pressure, where they seek validity by seeing others and following the same trend. Emotional support and encouragement are necessary to overcome performance pressure so that children are more comfortable staying how they are without changing themselves for toxic trends.
Sometimes, lack of appreciation and constant ignorance from parents or close ones can also lead the children into the trap of people-pleasing and performance pressure. Show your child that you appreciate them by celebrating small wins and their milestones to make them feel supported.
Here are a few benefits to knowing about successfully managing performance pressure:
Now that parents know how to tackle and identify performance pressure. They need to make sure that their child is free of it. Making the child understand boundaries can be a great way to avoid all these problems very easily.