Strategies for Dealing with School Refusal

Children expressing their reluctance to attend school can stir concerns, stress, and frustration among adults responsible for them. It prompts a search for the root cause of such school avoidance, which can sometimes be easily pinpointed, while other times manifest as sudden shifts in behavior and emotions without a clear trigger.

The prevalence of absenteeism and school avoidance has seen a significant rise in recent years, resulting in substantial repercussions on academic progress. The cycle of school avoidance, which can quickly become habitual, poses challenges for parents, caregivers, and educators alike. Missing school leads to work gaps and social detachment, creating anxiety about resuming classes, potentially exacerbating absenteeism and school avoidance. Various factors such as increased remote work for parents, heightened anxiety and mental health issues, and evolving post-Covid attendance policies are all implicated in this concerning trend.

Devising Strategies to Tackle School Avoidance

Parents grapple with the task of managing expectations while nurturing their child’s mental well-being and face the dilemma of knowing how best to support them when met with a resistant child. Educators are hindered in their role when students are not physically or emotionally present in class. Addressing school avoidance necessitates a comprehensive approach involving collaboration among parents, school administration, counselors, and teachers.

Supporting students contending with anxiety begins with adults regulating their own responses and approaching students with a composed demeanor. Engaging with parents and caregivers before the student arrives at school to devise a plan, informing the student about available support and how to access it, and communicating this strategy with teachers and administrators are crucial steps in ensuring a consistent and supportive response.

Recognizing and Managing Discomfort

Lynn Lyons, a renowned psychotherapist and speaker from Concord, New Hampshire, known for her work in aiding children and families with anxiety disorders, advocates a strategy focusing on understanding, rather than eliminating, troubling thoughts, emotions, and sensations. Intrigued by this approach, a strategy termed “Practice the And” was initiated to assist students grappling with anxiety or school avoidance behaviors.

The premise of teaching students to identify, anticipate, and cope with discomfort rather than evade it by removing barriers yielded unexpected positive outcomes. A mere shift in language brought about notable results, with students exhibiting reduced school avoidance tendencies, enhanced attendance, improved academic performance, and extended application of this coping strategy to other anxiety-inducing scenarios.

The “Practice the And” concept encourages students to acknowledge their emotions and express their aspirations concurrently, fostering acceptance of anxiety and the impetus to move forward. This resilience-building approach paves the way for students to verbalize their emotions and intentions, promoting a mindset that embraces discomfort and progression. 

Empowering older students to independently apply the “Practice the And” technique aids in enhancing self-awareness and building resilience. Encouraging students to identify their emotions, acknowledge them, and take a first step forward is instrumental in instilling this coping mechanism.

School counselors and staff can guide students in employing the “Practice the And” strategy, whether in the school premises or through remote interactions, to bolster emotional awareness and resilience:

1. Recognize the emotion (“I’m feeling worried”).
2. Identify the objective (“I have to present my project in class”).
3. Add the term and (“You are feeling worried and you are presenting your project”).
4. Assist the student in taking a small step towards the avoided environment, potentially in the presence of a supportive figure to accompany them during the task.
5. Acknowledge and celebrate their courage in facing discomfort, stressing that emotions are temporary and not definitive. Recognition can be as simple as a note, a gesture, or positive feedback on their bravery and perseverance.

Fostering self-awareness is the initial step in managing uncomfortable emotions effectively. Rather than resorting to immediate emotional alleviation strategies, fostering self-awareness is imperative in aiding students to navigate discomfort prudently.

By exemplifying that discomfort is a natural facet of life and promoting progress despite it, we cultivate resilience in students, equipping them with skills to manage emotional challenges in the future. Encouraging self-awareness over distraction aids in shunning avoidance behaviors inadvertently perpetuated by solely relying on temporary fixes.

Inculcating a Growth Mindset

This approach aligns with our efforts in nurturing a growth mindset among students. Encouraging students to embrace their growth zone through taking calculated risks, challenging themselves, and embracing discomfort is pivotal. Implementing the “Practice the And” concept steers students towards regulating themselves and shifting from avoidance to self-control, fostering confidence and resilience in the long run.

The “Practice the And” strategy aids students in grasping the transience of emotions. Despite anxiety’s seeming permanence, fostering regular emotional reflections and eliciting students’ emotional states underscores the fluid nature of emotions.

A quote on my office door reads, “Feelings are only visitors, let them come and let them go.” Embracing this ethos, along with practicing “and,” empowers students to navigate uncomfortable emotions instead of letting fleeting moments rob them of valuable experiences.