Is there such a thing as school phobia? - BBC

Writing in the BBC Magazine, Finlo Rohrer asks 'Is there such a thing as school phobia?'

Most adults can remember days when they vehemently didn't want to go to school, he writes.

There would be protestations of illness, and of the danger of passing on an unpleasant disease, before the eventual acceptance that the journey into school was inevitable.

So many might react with scepticism to the idea that there is such a thing as "school phobia".

But, says Nigel Blagg, author of School Phobia and Its Treatment, (Available in our Book Store) it is a condition that has been recognised since the 1960s.

"They will experience extreme anxiety. They are off school, typically with their parents' knowledge and approval. And they often have symptoms like tummy aches, head aches and nausea. Some of them suffer severely with depression.

"Any attempts to get them to school, when they are at their worst can lead to quite extreme behaviour - temper tantrums, screaming, kicking. It is very distressing for the adults."

Ann Newstead, a spokesperson for the home tuition charity Education Otherwise, says school phobia is a "very real condition".

"I see a lot of families where they are in that situation - you only have to meet the children and families to see that it's not a made up condition. It's genuine. Not sending your child to school is something parents can be prosecuted for. You don't risk prosecution lightly."

"You wouldn't dream of forcing an adult to engage in an environment that wasn't beneficial to them. So why do we think it's ok to treat children in this way?"

You can read the full article here>>>

A letter to EWO

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your ongoing interest in my child. I am pleased to see that we share the same commitment to providing my child with a suitable education.

I would like to direct you to to the 1996 Education Act "The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable ;
a) to his age, ability, and aptitude, and
b) to any special educational needs he may have,
either by regular attendance at school or otherwise."

My child has school phobia, also known as "school refusal"or "school based anxiety." This is a recognised condition whereby children are unable to go to school due to mental health issues. This is clearly, therefore, a special educational need; indeed, it also can be categorised as a disability according to the definition of the Disability Discrimination Act. As such, we must work together to look at a “suitable education”, which may not at this time be a school-based education. Other Local Authorities provide support for pupils with school phobia such as home tutoring or internet schools and I am keen to discuss options such as these with you (I am a member of an internet support group for parents with school phobic children and can assure you that most Local Authorities work hard to fulfil their legal and statutory duties to provide children such as mine with a suitable education.) I am also keen to work with other agencies that could help my child access his education entitlement.

It is vital that we work together at this time to support my child. (I am extremely unhappy that the Educational Welfare Service for ….Council has failed to recognise my child’s needs and chosen to pursue a discriminatory approach in this instance. I would like to direct you to the case of East Suffolk Local Authority and remind you that there is a legal precedent for a council being found guilty of failing a child like mine who had been diagnosed with school phobia. Should you seek to pursue a case against me, I will not hesitate to seek legal representation and challenge your service under the Disability Discrimination Act .I will also make a formal complaint to the Local Authority, consult SENDIST and approach the media.) If you feel that this is outside your personal experience, I would be grateful if you would refer this to a Senior Educational Welfare Officer.

I feel we need to arrange a further meeting as soon as possible to discuss how we can work together to help my child.


Yours sincerely,

Your name

I am unsure as to the origins of the above letter, but it may be useful to someone battling with their education authority over thier child's education.

Anxiety disorder, school phobia, or refusal - what's in a name?

I have been following an interesting debate in the Forum about how we refer to our children who find it difficult to attend school. This comes, in part, from the lack of understanding that we parents receive when we mention to other parents the difficulties we face - or even when talking to school management.

One parent writes: I get a completely different reaction from people when I talk about my son's anxiety disorder stopping him going to school to 'he is a school refuser' or he has 'school phobia'.

And another says: Originally I used to say he had 'School Refusal' which was usually met with blank looks or blame. I think we have all met that response at one time or another. My initial reaction was that it is an interesting line of thought, but are we in danger of disguising the issue if we give 'school refusal' or 'school phobia' a more generalist name? We could go one stage further and say 'she's nae weil' - or 'feeling sick'.

However, she goes on to say: I don't mean that we in any way water down what School Refusal is - the general public and education sector (and support professionals) need to be educated on how real and devastating it is for the child and us.

And that remains our key problem - how to get the message across. The public's reaction to the recent Daily Mail and BBC articles demonstrates that we have a long way to go.