YOUR child does not wantto go to school

YOUR CHILD DOES NOT WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL

YOUR CHILD DOES NOT WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL…

Most children experience periods when they are reluctant or don’t want to go to school. With children coming back to school at this time of the year, some parents are facing a fairly common problem which often occurs after vacation or at the start of a new term. However, if the reluctance worsens or persists beyond the first few weeks in school, the child may be in the early stages of developing a school phobia.

Children with school phobia have a very difficult time getting to school in the mornings – they complain of several physical symptoms. These symptoms may include fatigue, headache, dizziness, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. Also, they may feel unsafe alone, have severe tantrums when forced to go to school, clinging behaviour, sleeping difficulties with nightmares, etc. In extreme cases, these children can develop intense worries, which can lead to intense fear reactions, where the child would accept any consequence rather than attend school.

A school phobic child has many days when they miss school usually for vague reasons. The root of the problem is generally related to separation anxiety based on, and too often encouraged by, a persisting emotional tie with the mother. The child who is a good candidate for school phobia is one who is frequently ill, tends to be very dependent and reluctant to leave home, and has a history of frequent absence from school due to illness. Usually the mother in such cases tends to be compassionate and sympathetic, and overprotective. This disorder is more commonly found in girls than boys. In fact, the typical school phobic child is about 10 or 11 years of age, female, and has had 5 or 6 years of normal school experiences. In many cases, the child may have previously really enjoyed school; hence this can be very confusing to parents!

School phobia may be precipitated by some ‘trivial’ incidents at school; this may be a threatening peer, perhaps an embarrassing experience, or maybe a difficult teacher or subject; additional factors such as moving to a new area, changes in the family environment such as a divorce or bereavement may cause immense stress to a child and set off disturbed, anxious behaviour that can escalate into school phobia. The child’s avoidance to go to school if not handled properly may lead to reluctance to resume school. The longer the child is allowed to remain at home, the more difficult the problem becomes. Children who develop school phobia become terrified, trying every avoidance tactic in order to stay away from school. Parents should be aware of this, because children could be doing so in order to avoid anxious feelings.

Can children with school phobia be helped?

Most children with school phobia are helped with the guidance and encouragement by parents, and support from the school. However, in persistent cases it can be very frustrating for both parents and the child, and might have a negative impact on the child’s education and psychological well-being. It is therefore essential that child refusal to go to school is dealt with as early as possible by adopting a well-structured behavioural therapy program to allow the child the opportunity to learn how to develop ways to cope with the separation and to overcome his/her anxiety and emotional difficulty.

Dr. Akeel. A.Abdul Wahab

Fellow & Member of The Royal College of Psychiatrists (UK)

FRCPsych. (UK), MRCPsych. (UK), Board NeuroPsych. (London University ,UK), Dip.Psych. (London University, UK), MB.ChB.(Basra University,Iraq )

Formerly Senior Consultant Psychiatrist & Clinical professor

Metal Health Public awareness/School Phobia /AAW/2021

References;

YOUR CHILD DOES NOT WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL

School Anxiety & Refusal | Parents Guide To Support

Refusing to go to School - how can I help my child?

School refusal and truancy | Archives of Disease in Childhood