Many children feel anxiety when they enter into new social situations. They may be jittery and nervous when meeting other kids or sharing something in front of their peers. Shyness (especially in smaller children) is generally a normal personality trait. Most kids outgrow it the way they do thumb-sucking. But for others, an abnormal condition of shyness can last a lifetime.
Some behaviors should alert adults to possible problems. And although many of these emotional reactions are normal, they can warn adults that a problem should be treated more seriously.
- A child's anxiety will become more and more intense as fear of an event or a situation builds. If a child becomes obsessed with an event and how it will inspire an emotional reaction, then the adult should sit down and reassure the child before the response becomes dangerously debilitating.
- The child may begin to avoid such situations or interactions with others. For example, the child may attempt to stay home from school on the very day when he or she has been chosen to demonstrate something for the class. Although this is often the child's only way of coping with the scary situation, it can again set up an unhealthy pattern.
- The child may quit speaking in groups altogether. She or he may want to avoid parties, restaurants, or other functions involving many people.
Adults who notice that children are having a difficult time in public may want to coax them into losing their inhibitions by offering some honest encouragement.
If the situation is left alone to fester for a long time, shyness can become chronic or could even develop into a full-blown phobia of such stressful social situations.
From the May, 1995, issue of The Teddy Bear.
