Separation anxiety hits parents hard

DESPITE the efforts of security guards to shoo them away, a group of parents in Quezon City refused to get down from a pedestrian overpass from where they could “spy” on their children just minutes after sending them off to school.

This was the scene on Monday at President Corazon C. Aquino Elementary School (PCCAES) on IBP Road in Batasan Hills which welcomed 8,520 students on the first day of classes in public schools nationwide.

PCCAES principal Elvira Dumlao observed that on the first day of every school year, a large group of parents, particularly those of kindergarten students, would linger on the overpass overlooking the school grounds just to check on how their kids were doing.

According to Dumlao, the separation anxiety felt by parents was “far greater” compared to that of their children.

“When it comes to kids, they would stop crying once you give them biscuits. But with parents, they will not leave until they see their children inside the classroom,” she told the Inquirer in an interview on Monday.

Sure enough, security guards had to repeatedly remind the parents “stationed” at the overpass to make way for students walking to school. At one point, the school emcee thanked them for bringing their children to school and told them that they could now go home to no avail.

One of the parents, Ana Marie de la Rosa, looked worried as she glimpsed her son, Rhyanne Jay, through the bars at the school gate. She told the Inquirer that she felt nervous and excited for her only child on his first day of school. In contrast, Rhyanne Jay appeared to be enjoying himself and seemed at ease with his classmates.

SEPARATION anxiety seems to affect parents more than their children as they refuse to go home, intent on monitoring the goings-on at President Corazon C. Aquino Elementary School in Quezon City, from atop their perch on a pedestrian overpass in front of the school. Public schools opened nationwide on Monday after a two-month summer break. ALEXIS CORPUZ

For the handful of kindergarten students still suffering from separation anxiety, Dumlao came up with a “gimmick.”

To make them feel right at home, the around 810 kindergarten students of PCCAES were welcomed by schoolteachers wearing sashes bearing their names as well as party hats with a picture of the cartoon character their section was named after.

Dumlao said that apart from making it easy for parents and students to spot their designated sections, the  do-it-yourself party hats, which she introduced three years ago, helped ease the children’s anxiety.

She added that teachers wear their hats for just a week, enough time to help their students get used to their new environment.

According to Dumlao, this year’s opening of classes at PCCAES was the most orderly to date, attributing it to the preparations made by teachers and the orientation of parents they conducted last week. During the orientation, parents were informed of their children’s sections, eliminating the need for students to look for their classrooms.

The Department of Education (DepEd) officially welcomed on Monday over 24 million public and private school students. This school year marked the full implementation of the Aquino government’s K-12 education reform program as the DepEd rolled out the senior high school program for 1.5 million students.