Editor’s Note: This op-ed was originally published in The Boston Globe. Ben Lovett, Professor of Psychology and Education, and Alex Jordan — a psychologist in private practice and at McLean Hospital, and a lecturer at Harvard Medical School— are the authors of Overcoming Test Anxiety. 

By Alex Jordan and Ben Lovett

Jacob is terrified of oral reports he’s expected to give in his 10th-grade history class this school year. A therapist’s note recommends he be excused, and the school agrees. This scenario is playing out nationwide. The individuals and institutions involved are well intentioned and trying to help students feel more comfortable. But as psychologists who’ve studied and treated anxiety for decades, we believe that this approach — eliminating whatever makes students nervous — is making the problem worse. Here’s
why: Anxiety feeds on avoidance.

According to a 2022 study, the average anxious student receives 20 school-based supports, many of them avoidance-based, such as extra time for tests, separate rooms to work in, and lighter workloads.

Academic accommodations for anxiety convey two harmful messages. First, they imply that the feared situation is truly dangerous. Public speaking, testing, or lunch with classmates are too risky for a student. Second, they suggest that the student can’t withstand the distress. Those messages increase anxiety.

By contrast, when students take on what they’d rather avoid, they learn that worst-case scenarios rarely materialize, that discomfort is survivable, and that anxiety diminishes with practice. Indeed, purposely facing fears is the core of exposure therapy, the gold standard treatment for anxiety disorders for over half a century.

Typical schooling involves many natural exposures that build confidence. Class presentations boost public-speaking poise. Timed quizzes teach performance under pressure. Lunchtime exercises social muscles. Through these everyday challenges, students develop their self-management skills and learn to get through life even when feeling uncomfortable. Removing these stressors robs students of growth opportunities. The student who skips presentations arrives at college unprepared to participate in seminars and possibly panicked at the prospect. The student excused from group work doesn’t know how to navigate workplace collaborations and conflicts.

Some argue that accommodations level the playing field. We agree — when they’re done right. For example, a student with a reading disorder may need extra time to read written material. Crucially, this extra time doesn’t worsen the reading disorder; it allows the student to demonstrate their knowledge despite their disability. Anxiety is different. An accommodation built on avoidance doesn’t help a student perform despite their anxiety; it exacerbates the anxiety itself. It’s the equivalent of telling a student with a reading disorder to simply stop reading.

Parents might be thinking: My anxious child goes to school every day without accommodations. If exposure is effective, why are they still upset? Some children do need more intensive help from therapists who can expertly calibrate exposures and teach children new ways of thinking and relating to their anxiety. In such cases, accommodations still aren’t generally the right solution, as they tend to leave children less functional and more distressed long term.

What should schools do instead? First, educate all students about anxiety. From early on, students should learn about how exposure rather than avoidance is the key to thriving when anxious. Second, help students build skills. For moderately anxious students, school counselors and psychologists can run groups using exposure and other evidence supported tools. Third, for severely anxious students, secure proper help by partnering with community mental health professionals for structured treatment. When certain accommodations are occasionally necessary for these students, always include an explicit plan for removing them as soon as possible.

Parents play a critical role, too. When a child begs to stay home because of a school presentation, most parents’ protective instincts kick in. But fostering children’s development often requires withstanding momentary upset while expressing confidence in their capabilities. The payoff is not just reduced anxiety; it’s increased competence. And remember that children often learn from their parents’ example more than from their advice — so parents should model in their own behavior a willingness to take on scary things.

School administrators are under pressure. Last fall, the Department of Education issued guidance implying that many students with anxiety disorders need accommodations and that schools must provide them or risk harsh penalties. Policy should be reformed to encourage schools to build resilience rather than enable avoidance.

Take as a model the shift over the past 20 years in how schools address learning problems. More schools have been remediating academic deficits with effective evidence-based interventions, rather than immediately labeling a child as having a learning disability. As a result, rates of learning disabilities have declined. Policy makers and educators should apply the same approach to anxiety problems. 

Anxiety in children and adolescents has reached such high levels that the last surgeon general declared a youth mental health crisis. No matter the causes of the anxiety epidemic, codifying avoidance in schools is a betrayal of adults’ duty to prepare children for life. Every challenge accommodated away steals a student’s chance to discover and develop their strength. Students are more capable than their anxiety tells them they are. It’s time to stop teaching them otherwise.