Can after-school activities cause stress in some children?

Can after-school activities cause stress in some children?

Harvey Hoyo (President, California School Counselors Association) gives expert video advice on: Why should I encourage my child to do after-school activities?; Should I encourage a balance of physical and academic after-school activities?; Should I ever pressure my child to join an after-school activity? and more...

Activities that are inappropriate can cause stress in some children and the bottom line is, some stress is normal in our life, and we need some stress. When you play baseball as a youngster, you're often worried about "What would I do if the ball comes to me?" That can be very stressful. Some students are more stressed than others. That's a good kind of stress that needs to be encouraged. It's the way you handle the stress. Again, a good conversation with your youngster will help you, as a good parent, define that stress is appropriate for this particular activity. If it is, no problem. If it's not, a communication with the leader to find out details would be really appropriate, because no leader of an after-school activity wants to cause undue stress for one of the participants.