Attention

Anxiety can make it hard to focus. Children who worry a lot may struggle to concentrate in school. For example, a child with separation anxiety may worry about their parents and not focus on class. Some children may avoid handing in homework or answering questions because they fear making mistakes. 

A child who seems distracted in school may be dealing with ongoing worries that teachers and caregivers don’t notice. Anxiety comes in many forms, but they all share one thing: anxiety can “lock up the brain,” says neurologist and former teacher Ken Schuster, Doctor of Psychology (PsyD). This makes learning harder for anxious children. 

A child with separation anxiety may worry that something bad will happen to their caregivers while they are apart. These thoughts can make it hard to focus on schoolwork. 

Some children fear making mistakes or being embarrassed. When a teacher calls on them, they may try to avoid attention. They might look down or pretend to write something. These actions help them avoid what makes them anxious. 

If a child takes a long time to finish work, it may not be daydreaming. They could be struggling with perfectionism, trying to get everything exactly right. If they don’t turn in homework, it might be because they worry it’s not good enough.

Children with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may seem distracted. They worry about bad things happening. When a teacher calls on them, they may look like they are not paying attention.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which often begins in primary school, creates extra distractions. Children have obsessive thoughts and feel they must perform rituals to prevent bad things from happening. 

A child with OCD might line up items on their desk, tap, or count silently. They may feel the need to go to the lavatory to wash their hands. 

“A child may sit in class thinking they need to fix something to stop something terrible from happening,” says Jerry Bubrick, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), a clinical psychologist at the Child Mind Institute. “When the teacher calls on them, they may not know the answer—not because they weren’t listening, but because they were obsessing.” 

Children with OCD often feel ashamed of their symptoms. They may hide their compulsions at school. To a teacher who doesn’t know about the OCD, this behaviour may look like attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but it isn’t. 

Children who have experienced trauma may seem nervous, jumpy, or spaced out. These behaviours can look like ADHD. 

Children who have experienced trauma may also seem inattentive. Those who have seen violence or other upsetting events may struggle to focus and feel unsafe. This constant alertness is called hypervigilance. 

Children living with high stress at home may show these symptoms or even develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

“Many PTSD symptoms look like ADHD,” explains Jamie Howard, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), a clinician at the Child Mind Institute. “Trouble concentrating, being easily startled, and hypervigilance can make a child seem jumpy and spaced out.”

Children with specific learning difficulties may struggle with schoolwork. They often feel frustrated or embarrassed when they can’t keep up. This can affect their ability to focus.

If a child looks everywhere except at the book they’re supposed to read, they may have a learning disorder. 

Children with undiagnosed dyslexia may fidget or feel ashamed that they can’t read like others. They may try to hide their struggle. 

A child who finds math difficult might welcome distractions to avoid doing the work. 

Children with auditory processing problems may miss parts of what the teacher says, even when they’re trying to listen. This can look like inattention. 

Some children work extra hard to hide their learning difficulties. They may succeed until the schoolwork becomes too hard. 

“They hide their weakness until they get older and the work becomes too much,” says Nancy Rappaport, Doctor of Medicine (MD), a professor at Harvard Medical School. “They’re often diagnosed with ADHD or depression unless someone identifies the learning issue.”