For Parents – Be stern
With all the talk of allowing your children space and not over hyping the importance, it is important to keep a balance. Giving them too much space and acting as if the examinations is a ‘walk in a park’ will give your kid the idea that you are not interested and the exam results won’t bother you. Once they have this idea, they will start to lose interest as well.

The point here is that it is important to draw a balance. Allow them space and give them breaks but know when to be stern. As parents, there are certain times when we have to take the initiative and forget about being the ‘cool parent’.

Don’t worry what your kids say or how they react. If it means that you must take their phone away for the entire examination period then do that, and don’t let their reactions and threats affect you. It is a difficult line to thread. On the one hand, you don’t want to kill the child’s spirit but on the other hand, you don’t want to give them too much freedom. There cannot be one blanket rule for all parents when it comes to drawing the line. It all depends on the child and each child is unique.

For some kids, there is a need to take their phones away only when they study, for others it might be best to take it away for the entire period of exams. And for others, it might not be necessary to take it away at all. The same can be said for going out with friends during the exams or accompanying the family when they invited for a braai etc.

For Learners – Take short breaks
It is important to take short breaks when studying so as not to tire your brain. Studying for a long stretch might work for some but for others it can be very unproductive. The pomodoro technique is something that should be tried out.

The Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management system that encourages people to work with the time they have—rather than against it. Using this method, you break your study session into 25-minute chunks separated by five-minute breaks. These intervals are referred to as pomodoros. After about four pomodoros, you take a longer break of about 15 to 20 minutes.

The idea behind the technique is that the timer instills a sense of urgency. Rather than feeling like you have endless time in the workday to get things done and then ultimately squandering those precious work hours on distractions, you know you only have 25 minutes to make as much progress on a task as possible. Additionally, the forced breaks help to cure that frazzled, burnt-out feeling most of us experience toward the end of the day.