![For some students, heading back to school feels like entering a pressure cooker. Parents can ease anxieties by helping their students develop strategies for handling stressful situations.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/secure.caes.uga.edu/news/multimedia/images/9711/back-to-school-stress.jpg)
Families should make a plan to manage back-to-school stress
As summer draws to an end, both students and parents need to prepare for the return to school. While a new backpack and a collection of notebooks and pens might top their to-do list, students also need to prepare emotionally, said Diane Bales, a human development specialist for University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and a professor of human development and family science in the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences.