What is it?

(Child Mind Institute, 2023)

(The Project, 2023)

School distress is when a mokopuna (child or young person) experiences distress at the prospect of or in the process of attending school and then does not attend.

Mokopuna experiencing school distress may go to great lengths to avoid or withdraw from the school environment.

Another term for school distress is school refusal. Refusal denotes that the mokopuna has a choice in not attending school.

Research has proven that this is not the case.

The mokopuna cannot attend school.

The mokopuna is experiencing a survival response to being asked to go to school. Their brain is telling their body that it is physically unsafe to attend.

Mokopuna experiencing school distress may:

demonstrate significant distress such as crying, meltdowns, aggression or running away at the prospect of going to school.
refuse to move
beg not to go
complain of headaches
complain about feeling anxious
complain about a sore stomach
experience dizziness
have panic attacks
have stomach upsets
have heart palpitations
may initially go to school and then ask to return home

A mokopuna who is experiencing school distress can become traumatised by well-meaning adults who force them to attend.

This can compound the problem. The child is not refusing to attend, they cannot attend.

School distress can be caused by:

underlying conditions such as anxiety or depression
undiagnosed autism
undiagnosed PDA-type autism (Pathological Demand Avoidance)
high levels of social anxiety
panic disorders
be triggered by a major transition
can be triggered by an adult becoming ill in their life

School refusal is experienced by those with underlying neurodiversity much more than those who are neurotypical (Connolly, Constable & Mullally, 2023). Autistic students in particular have significant challenges attending school (Connolly, Constable & Mullally, 2023).

These challenges include sensory processing differences, unstructured play times, too many transitions, irregular routines e.g. a reliever being in the space, loud environments such as modern learning spaces and communication difficulties.

Whānau experiencing school distress with their mokopuna needs extra awhi (care and support).

They want their child to attend school, but cannot send them.

Whānau can feel severely judged, ostracised and blamed for their child's non-attendance at school.

It is often traumatising for the parent to send their child in distress to school.

It is against their instincts to be parted from their child who is in so much distress.

Would you like to know more?

What does the Research say about school distress?

I'm have a whānau member experiencing this, tell me more

I'm a kaiako or educator with a student who is experiencing this, tell me more

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