In recent years, anxiety has become one of the most talked-about challenges in education. Teachers are seeing more students overwhelmed by small changes, avoiding assessments, or struggling to stay in class. What was once a rare occurrence is now part of the everyday life of many classrooms.
But perhaps the most important question is not how often anxiety is showing up, but how schools are responding to it.
Are we helping students unlearn anxiety, or unintentionally reinforcing it?
Anxiety is a powerful motivator for avoidance. When a student avoids a speech, a test, or even a day at school (what we call a stressor) and feels temporary relief from that stressor, their brain learns that avoidance works. In the short term, they feel relief, however, we know that the stressor is not going away, the speech, test, or school is waiting for them the next day. The more this cycle is repeated, the more entrenched it becomes, and a pattern of avoidance occurs.
In schools, the systems designed to support anxious students often mirror this cycle. Students might be excused from assessments, allowed early exits, or given frequent time away from class. These supports come from a place of care, but when they become routine, they can inadvertently reinforce to a student that they are not capable of managing difficult situations and that student feels less confident and capable to tackle the task in the future.
The intention is to reduce distress. But the effect can be that students come to believe they cannot cope, which only reinforces anxious thinking.
What works instead?
Helping anxious students is not about pushing them harder. It’s about giving them the tools to face their fears gradually and with support, the way you scaffold a student for learning, can also be done for emotional problem solving. This means providing structured, predictable responses and modelling calm, steady behaviour.
Classroom teachers are not expected to be therapists. But when schools adopt consistent ways of responding to anxious behaviour – based on scaffolded challenges within the child’s capability and grounded in clear, consistent language – students begin to develop the skills to manage their feelings.
This shift from managing behaviours to building capacity allows students to move forward. It also supports teachers, who often feel stuck in cycles of repeated accommodations that don’t lead to long-term change.
Why consistency matters
Anxiety shows up everywhere: in the classroom, in the playground, at the school gate. If every adult responds differently, students get mixed messages. When teachers, principals, support staff, and parents all use the same framework, anxious students begin to feel supported.
This isn’t about creating more work for already stretched staff. It’s about working smarter, with modest changes to the conversations you are already having with students and working with shared tools and a consistent approach that actually reduces stress over time.
When anxious students learn to face discomfort instead of avoiding it, the benefits ripple out, to learning outcomes, peer relationships, and family life.
What schools can do now
Build a shared understanding.
Make sure everyone knows the difference between avoidance and support. Create clear and concise expectations for your classroom, that outline how to respond to challenging tasks –
“In this Classroom we ‘Have A Go’”.
Create clear pathways.
Use consistent responses to common anxious behaviours.
Empower staff.
Equip teachers with tools that help them respond with calm confidence.
Model healthy coping.
Let students see that feeling anxious is okay and that it can be worked through, not worked around.
The goal isn’t to eliminate anxiety, students need to know this is a natural part of life and that the feeling is temporary. The goal is to help students learn that they are capable of managing it, and in doing so, to foster real resilience.
Learn how The Anxiety Project can provide you with a whole-of-school framework for recognising and combatting anxiety in your students. Submit an obligation-free Expression of Interest for more information.