Quiet children suffer in silence with anxiety, study finds

A NEW study has found an alarming number of school children are missing out on a key part of the learning process because they are too scared to ask for help, but it’s not because they’re too shy.

ANXIOUS primary school kids are too scared to ask for help because they fear being called a wimp.

And kids who need help are not being referred by teachers to professionals, according to a new Queensland University of Technology study, with quiet students particularly falling through the cracks.

QUT Professor Marilyn Campbell said the study showed students themselves needed to be given an avenue to ask for help, as teachers were not directing them to the proper supports.

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“When a child is anxious, they know society will call them a wimp so they aren’t going to tell anyone,” she said. “The naughty kids who are externalising their bad behaviour are instead helped so it’s the quiet child who suffers.”

Prof Campbell, who supervised the study, said it found teachers were unwilling to refer a student for help unless there was an available guidance counsellor or if someone else flagged the problem.

QUT’s Kaitlin Hinchliffe, who led the study, said previous research had found one in six children had anxiety, with kids worried about many things – from not performing in tests to not having friends to play with.

“Kids are really unlikely to speak up for themselves and ask for help … and if they are the quiet kids sitting up the back they might go under the radar more than the disruptive kids who are crying in class,” she said.

Anxiety House senior child clinical psychologist Angela Randell said anxiety could present in multiple ways including being quiet and compliant.

Kristina Minovski says her daughter Mia, 6, struggles with anxiety at school. Picture: Peter Wallis

“That idea of being afraid to be seen as wimpy is definitely an issue for kids and perhaps more so for boys,” Dr Randell said.

Mum Kristina Minovski said her daughter Mia, 6, struggled with anxiety at school.

“She’s a bit out there at home but she’s a quiet person in school when there are other overpowering personalities,” Ms Minovski said. “She worries about what other people think and if other kids won’t play with her.”