Parents are also part of the matric exam

The matric exams, having just started, is, as often as not, equally stressful for parents.

As they bear witness to their child navigating through this challenging finale to school life, parents can feel uncertain of their role and ambivalent about whether they should hover around or back off.

It is crucial to keep in mind that your role is to empower and enable their best possible performance. You are not the driver, but the support team.

When it comes to matric exams though, we have to find ways to let our children own their process, even if they approach it very differently from how we would do it.

While matric exams are the end of school days, this transition also represents the beginning of a new phase in your child’s life. Remember, there are six weeks between being a school learner and becoming a young adult.

– Effective communication

At the root of surviving the matric experience, is open communication. It works best if parents can ask how their child wants to be supported, instead of assuming and deciding for them and forging ahead. Aim to do more listening than talking and try asking coaching questions instead of dispensing advice.

– Different strokes

Parents of this digital generation can expect that the way their child approaches their studies may be quite different to how they tackled their own. Parents may be quick to jump in with advice drawn from their own experiences – which may not even be remotely relevant. This could contribute to their child’s stress – not helpful.

– Setting the scene

Parents can champion their child’s self-care by facilitating home life so that they can eat healthily, keep physically active and get sufficient sleep. They can make it clear that they are there for support, and open to talking through anxieties and roadblocks.

– Promoting resilience

Having a positive attitude towards matric studies and exams is not about pretending. Rough times are inevitable, no matter how well parents are maintaining a conducive environment and good communication. Being able to talk is the very basis of maintaining a stable environment. Evaluating and re-evaluating what is working at this time, allows for agility and promotes resilience.

Matric exams bring with them a knife-edge atmosphere into the home. Make a point of managing everyone’s expectations, and remember all members of the family are involved in this experience. Getting through the next six weeks doesn’t have to be a bad experience.

For more tips and support around mental health, studying, diet and exercise, watch this:

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