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Your child has used the same blue pen for every unit test since Class 9, and now they will not sit the boards without it. Usually the kind answer is to play along, while making sure the pen never becomes the plan.
Does a lucky pen actually help in exams?
The best-known study says it might. In 2010, Lysann Damisch, Barbara Stoberock and Thomas Mussweiler at the University of Cologne ran four experiments in which good-luck cues, such as crossing fingers or keeping a personal lucky charm nearby, improved performance on golf putting, motor, memory and word-puzzle tasks (Psychological Science, 2010). Their explanation was not magic: the charm raised people's belief that they could do the task, and that made them keep trying for longer.
That finding has not held up well. In 2014, Robert Calin-Jageman and Tracy Caldwell ran two careful repeats of the lucky golf ball experiment and found that players told they had a lucky ball performed almost identically to everyone else (Social Psychology, 2014). They also noted that results varied widely across studies, and the most rigorous studies showed no effect at all.
You may also come across a well-known 2016 paper claiming rituals improve performance by lowering anxiety. It was retracted in 2024 after problems were found in its data (retraction record;Skeptical Inquirer). A broader review still describes rituals as a way people manage emotions, prepare for a performance and feel connected to others (Hobson and colleagues, Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2018).
So the honest summary is this: a lucky pen may make your child feel steadier, but there is no reliable evidence that it raises marks.
When does an exam ritual help, and when does it turn into anxiety?
What matters is what the ritual does for your child. Use this quick check before an exam.
Signs the ritual is helping:
It takes seconds and is easy to skip if needed.
Your child can laugh about it a little.
They feel settled afterwards and get on with revision.
It stays the same size: one pen, one breakfast, one prayer.
Signs it may be feeding anxiety:
Losing the pen or breaking the routine causes panic, not mild irritation.
The list keeps growing: the pen, then the socks, then a set route to the centre.
It has to be done "perfectly", or repeated until it feels right.
It eats into sleep or study time, or spreads beyond exams.
Your child says they cannot do well without it.
One or two warning signs in a stressful fortnight need not worry you. If several last for weeks, or your child seems trapped by the routine, talk to the school counsellor or your family doctor. Tele MANAS, the national mental health helpline on 14416, offers free 24x7 counselling in several languages (Ladakh administration notice). Our guide on exam stress in teenagers and when to get help goes further.
What should you say when your child insists on a lucky pen?
Mocking the pen tells your child their nerves are silly. Feeding it ("Did you touch it to the idol three times?") adds steps. Aim for warm and matter-of-fact.
A script you can use:
Accept it: "Of course, pack it. It's been with you all year."
Add a backup: "Let's put a second pen right next to it, just in case."
Point to what's really working: "That pen didn't do your revision. You did. It's coming along to watch."
Check the rules together: some entrance exams strictly limit what you can take into the centre, so read the admit card instructions and plan a version of the ritual that can happen at the gate.
Parents have rituals too, from dahi-cheeni at the door to a call from a grandparent. They are fine if they say "we're with you", not "everything depends on today". If your own nerves are high, read how to manage your own anxiety about your child's exams.
What works better than luck on exam morning?
One short routine has stronger evidence than any charm. Gerardo Ramirez and Sian Beilock asked 106 ninth graders to spend 10 minutes writing, just before a biology final, either about their worries or about a topic they did not expect to be tested on (Science, 2011). The worried students who wrote about their fears did better, reaching a B+ average against B- for anxious students in the control group (Science News). It made no difference for students who were not anxious.
A morning confidence kit, then:
The lucky pen, if they want it, plus a backup.
Admit card and ID, checked the night before.
Ten minutes of worry-writing, then the page goes in the bin.
One familiar, solved question to read, so the first thing they see is something they can do.
Real confidence comes from having already solved hard problems. If a practice question stumps your child in the final weeks, the Fermi Problem Library has a step-by-step solver that explains the reasoning rather than printing an answer, so the method is theirs on exam day. Our night-before checklist for parents covers the rest of the evening.
