Why Do Students Avoid Certain Tasks?
Do you have a student, or maybe more than one, who regularly tries to avoid certain activities at school? If you talk to the student he/she may be willing to tell you why, but more often they won’t tell you. It may be because they don’t know why, or it might be because they are too embarrassed to say anything.
Regardless what the reason it is important for you to find out what the problem is so that you can help the student deal with it. You will probably want to do some homework before you approach the student. Let’s look at how you might attack this issue.
There are, for example, several reasons humans avoid completing specific tasks, and the reason for this is can vary from individual to individual. The most common reasons that students avoid certain tasks are discussed below.
If The Student Doesn’t Think They Will Do Well, they choose not to try. Fear of failure is a big reason why people will avoid certain tasks. Often, they are afraid of looking bad or of the embarrassment, they may experience if they can’t complete the task. This fear of failure is quite common and one of the easier ones to overcome as it can usually be remedied by working on self-confidence and self-acceptance.
Fatigue is another reason students may find it difficult to get involved in an activity. When a student is overly tired, he/she will generally avoid certain tasks. The fatigue may be a result of issues at home, for example, a new baby that keeps everyone awake, or it might be that there are family issues that interfere with the student’s sleep. Even if they are tasks the student usually has fun doing they will opt out of the activity. It is tough to focus when fatigued, which could lead the student to become distracted as an avoidance tactic for certain tasks. If you think this is the reason you may need to contact the parents and share your concerns with them and enlist their help.
Medical Conditions may also be an issue. This is something that parents should share with you but sometimes don’t. Even very young students may be dealing with conditions such as anxiety and depression, which can lead to the avoidance of certain tasks. Although this may sound bad, generally, if the underlying condition is treated, you’ll find that it’s a bit easier to find your motivation to complete tasks.
If The Student Doesn’t Think They Will Have Fun when he/she anticipates the activities they will quite naturally try to avoid them. Maybe they’ve performed the task before and didn’t have fun. Humans generally want to avoid doing things that lead to unhappiness. This is especially true when the task at hand is perceived to be especially difficult or complex.
3 Types of Avoidance
Before you can work with a student who avoids a certain situation, it is essential to narrow down what type of avoidance he/she is using to avoid something in their life so you can know how best to combat it.
Emotional Or Cognitive Avoidance
This type of avoidance usually happens internally and can’t be seen by anyone other than the person experiencing the avoidance. When they, emotionally or cognitively, avoid something, it means that they avoid thinking about it. This can mean either blocking out the thoughts when they come to mind or repressed memories that are incredibly stressful. Emotional avoidance is especially prominent after someone has experienced a trauma and is very common in people living with PTSD. Even young students can suffer from a form of PTSD. Sometimes this type of avoidance requires medical intervention to resolve. You will need to work with the parents if this is the case.
Situational Avoidance
This type of avoidance is much easier to see among your students. Situational avoidance is when a student specifically avoids a certain person, place, or thing which may remind them of something which makes them unhappy. This might be avoiding math class because they find it difficult or were embarrassed by a teacher in front of their peers. It also may happen in friend groups when certain group members have had an altercation and don’t want to go to events where they may see the person they have disagreed with to avoid causing problems. You may also notice this type of avoidance in a student who constantly changes the subject when a particular topic comes up in conversation.
Protective Avoidance
This type of avoidance is where the student may go out of their way to protect themself from feeling a certain emotion or experiencing something again. For example, an adult who was the victim of a robbery may obsessively check the locks on all the doors in the house to ensure they are locked. Similarly, a student who has something taken from their school bag may refuse to leave it unattended in a cupboard and instead insist on carrying it everywhere they go. This type of avoidance can be one of the most dangerous as it can quickly escalate to more serious conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder or an eating disorder.
Conclusion
If you find a student avoiding certain tasks, thoughts, or people, it’s time to evaluate why they are doing so, keeping the three types of avoidance in mind. Once you have discovered just what they are avoiding and why only then can you work towards fixing the issue. You may also want to get the parents involved in supporting what you are doing at school.