Support and encourage, is the message for parents

Exam Tips: Don't put unbearable pressure on your children during the exams. There is life after the Leaving Cert, writes Brian Mooney

Pat Kenny still has nightmares about it from time to time. Psychologist Dr Tony Humphreys never experienced it, having left school at 15.

Gerry Ryan sat it, knowing his mother was very ill and thus saw how insignificant it really was, in the overall journey of life. He would remind all candidates facing it tomorrow of the words of the song, "The sun will come up tomorrow". What are they all referring to? The Leaving Certificate, of course.

This morning the next batch of approximately 60,000 students will enter the familiar physical surroundings of their schools, which have been transformed overnight into State Examination Commission centres.

The sports hall, in which so much joy and simple craic were enjoyed during six years of secondary school, now has a notice on its door stating that it is an examination centre.

Strange faces, which will become just as familiar to students by the end of this week, have replaced the familiar figures of teachers. The school principal hovers in the background as a comforting reassurance to calm the nerves. In all the uncertainty of the examination process over the coming weeks, a friendly face will be close at hand.

One of the main causes of stress to students taking both Junior and Leaving Cert exams is the belief that they themselves are being judged by the degree of success or failure they achieve. This puts enormous pressure on them and leads to many being prescribed tranquillisers to help them cope with the process.

Dr Humphreys tells the story of the mother who rang him concerning her daughter, who had been a grade A student all her life. She had fallen apart and taken to bed, unable to continue her studies.

His concern was, of course, to help the girl recover to full health and confidence.

Her mother's concern seemed to be focused on how soon he could get her back to her previously successful academic ways. Sometimes in the rough and tumble of life we lose sight of what really matters.

The greatest gift a parent can give their son or daughter before the start of the examinations this morning is to assure them that all you want from them is that they give of their best. Nothing more should be expected or demanded.

Some parents and students see the Leaving Cert as a make-or-break examination which will determine the rest of a student's life. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Leaving Cert is but a gateway into a vast array of career and college course choices that of themselves open up endless possibilities. Students aiming for a much-sought-after degree course may be crushed to discover in August that they have not secured sufficient points for entry; only to discover that, having successfully completed the cert/diploma course they are offered, they can proceed to enter the final two years of their original degree choice.

Such happy endings are not always the end result of every student's academic journey. Some, having failed in their original objective, find that they have to take an unplanned path.

The nature of our modern economy is such that these paths lead very quickly to new choices and options, which will enable the person to develop their career in new directions, unimaginable to them today.

The message to all parents today concerning a son or daughter facing examinations this morning is to support and encourage them.

Neither you nor they have any idea what life holds in store for them. One thing is certain: they must ultimately determine the shape of their own future.

You cannot relive yours through them, no matter how much you may be tempted to.

Parents can assist students in achieving the best result possible by supporting and encouraging them in the weeks ahead.