Some children are shy and they need a little more time to interact with other children. However, some other children are extremely shy and worried about what other children or people think about them. These children are very sensitive to the possibility of making a mistake and other children laugh at them or think that they are stupid. When children experiment these feelings, they are suffering from social anxiety.
Social anxiety is very common in the school setting. Some students do not want to participate in group activities nor in class. They do not want to play in the playground during recess and they do not dear speak aloud to ask a question or answer a teacher's question. As a consequence, they feel sad and lonely and their academic performance decrease.
Fortunately, there are some effective strategies to help these children overcome their social anxiety. In the following link you can find further information.
