Back-to-school an annual nightmare for parents

PREPARING children to go back to school causes as much stress to parents as moving house, starting a job or getting married.

As thousands of secondary and primary school children trudge back to classrooms around the country over the next couple of days, their parents are reaching new heights of anxiety and stress, according to a new study.

The survey of more than 1,000 parents found that the annual ritual of packing the children off to school sent them into a tailspin of stress and expense and unlike marriage or moving home, parents must endure the torture annually for at least 12 years.