From News-Daily.com…
Shortly after school starts every year, I receive calls from concerned parents of teens and tweens indicating that their child simply refuses to go to school.
These are not kids demanding mental health days. “School refusing” kids do not refuse for just a day or two, but for weeks, months, sometimes semesters on end.
One child I work with refused to attend school due to profound social anxiety, fearful that other kids would ignore him, make fun of him, or bully him.
Another teen was deeply depressed about her appearance and could not stand the idea of peers seeing her and potentially judging her. And a high school sophomore client fell far behind in tests and assignments, and feared facing his teachers, so he refused to attend school for the remainder of the semester. Many school refusing kids suffer a combination of these stressors.
