‘Spend some time with family’

Every time she feels exhausted with her studies, 17-year-old Nishita Mohta, a Class 12 student of Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, comes out of her room to spend some time with her family.

Every time she feels exhausted with her studies, 17-year-old Nishita Mohta, a Class 12 student of Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, comes out of her room to spend some time with her family.

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This helps her unwind.

"Nowadays I am revising the syllabus, which goes on throughout the day. After finishing a particular chapter, if I feel saturated mentally, I chitchat with my family for a few minutes before starting a new chapter. If I need a longer break, then I go downstairs to have a short walk," she said.

Mohta feels her healthy eating and sleeping habit helps her stay relaxed. "Thankfully, I was never into junk food, and had no erratic sleeping hours either. Though I have friends who were tremendously into colas, burgers and French fries, and would sleep really late at night, they have temporarily changed their habits. There is a friend who now eats six small meals in a day and sleeps early," she added.

To ensure that their children do not fall ill during the exams, parents are also taking necessary precautions.

"I have stopped eating outside food completely to avoid any infection. I also take special care of hygiene such as washing hands before meals," said Aishwarya Dhar, 17, a Class 12 student of APJ School, Dhaula Kuan. She likes to take internet breaks to de-stress herself. "Whenever I feel I am not able to grasp anything, I turn to my laptop and spend about five minutes on the internet," she said. The social networking site, Facebook, is her favourite. There are some students who also prefer chatting with friends on the internet and talking over the phone to relax.

A bit of stress usually is good, as it helps in keeping students motivated. They mostly find ways to cope with it themselves. However, there are signs that one needs to look out for to ensure stress has not transformed into anxiety that could be harmful.

If your child wakes up frequently at night, either to urinate or drink water, or is not eating properly, it speaks of trouble.

Putting in long hours to study, without at least six hours of sleep, will lead to extreme tiredness and headaches.

"Tell the student there's no need to panic now. With the little time in hand, ask them to do right things. Get six to eight hours of sleep, eat light, non-fried meals, and indulge in light recreational activities such as a game of carom or ludo, or a short walk outside," said Dr Monica Chib, Senior Consultant, psychiatry, Apollo Hospital.

Principals say: Be calm, just revise

HT Correspondent
htreporters@hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI: For students appearing for the Central Board Secondary Education (CBSE) examinations, the last 24 hours before the examinations are often the most difficult. But, too much anxiety and excitement in the run-up to the Boards could ruin their chances of performing well, said principals.

This year, 4.66 lakh students appear for Class 10, and 7.70 lakh students for Class 12 Boards that start on March 1.

"It is very important be to calm at this point in time. The time to prepare is over, so they should not fret over what they have not done, but revise the concepts they have covered. Students should not worry too much about what kind of question will come. The Board has always had a set pattern with about 10-15% of the questions which are conceptual, and the rest range from easy to average in the difficulty level," said Ameeta Wattal, principal, Springdales School, Pusa Road.

S Poornima, a Class 12 student of St Cecilia's School, Vikaspuri, is going through the pre-examination jitters but her parents are playing a crucial role in helping her keep her nerves.

"I cannot even express what I am going through. But my parents are very supportive and they are helping me overcome my nervousness," said Poornima.

Lata Vaidyanathan, principal of Modern School, Barakhamba Road, felt that watching a little bit of cricket could be the perfect antidote to the tension surrounding the Boards. "Watching television in moderation could help unwind the child. Besides this, family support is key to a child's performance. More often than not parents get more anxious than the children, which in turn make them nervous. So they should try and talk about things which will relax them," said Vaidyanathan.