‘School avoidance’ tied to mental health

Study of GTA finds 600 per cent rise in extreme absenteeism

For Jessi and Brian White of Sarnia, the beginning of the school year looked promising. Their 15-yearold son, Seamus, started Grade 10 and he appeared to be doing well.

“He got through the first three weeks fairly flawlessly and seemed excited,” said Brian, a Sarnia city councillor.

“And then almost like hitting a brick wall, it came to a crashing halt, about week four. Then it was outright refusal to get out of bed, refusal to go to school.”

The Whites are not alone. Their son is just one of a spiralling number of kids who are chronically missing from school, suffering from what psychologists call “school refusal behaviour” or “school avoidance.”

“It’s really important to understand that this is not an issue of truancy,” said Sheryl Boswell, executive director of the advocacy group, Youth Mental Health Canada.

“Kids who don’t want to go to school are actually suffering with a mental-health disability.”

There is no national public data on the number of kids suffering from school avoidance, said Dr. Maria Rogers, an Ottawa psychologist and Canada Research Chair in child and youth mental health at Carleton University. But Anxiety Canada estimates about 25 per cent of youth will engage in school refusal behaviour during their schooling years.

And the pandemic has made it worse.

Rogers said she has seen “a huge increase in school avoidance throughout the pandemic” at her private practice in Ottawa. And it’s not just a Canadian issue, she said, noting data trends from the U.S. and the U.K. that show COVID’s devastating impact on school attendance.

A study of Greater Toronto schools published in 2021 revealed an alarming 600 per cent increase in extreme absenteeism — when students miss more than 50 per cent of classes. “That translates into almost 9,000 students,” said study co-ordinator Kelly Gallagher-Mackay of Wilfrid Laurier University.

The effect of this level of absenteeism extends well beyond loss of education, Boswell said. “There is loss of peer network, loss of school support, loss of hope and sometimes loss of life. For me it’s one of the most pressing issues in youth mental health and youth suicide prevention.”

Brian and Jessi White faced a battle everyday, last semester, trying to get Seamus back to school. He was averaging about two days a week. “But it ebbs and flows,” Briansaid. They gave up trying to get him on the school bus. Instead, Jessi, a kindergarten teacher, drove him to school, stopping at the local Tim Hortons for his favourite coffee on the way. That was after getting up extra early to allow for the time she needs to get Seamus out of bed, pack his lunch and make sure everything he needs is at the door.

“We are desperately trying to figure out how to help our son learn in the way that best suits his abilities,” said Brian, who describes his son as a gifted student who had aspirations to become a vet.

“Kids like ours, their brain just does not function in a way that fits the standard that has been set by the Ministry of Education. We are seeing our gifted child risk his entire future because he can’t get through sitting in a regular classroom.”

“The beginning of the year was OK. But as I started getting into it, I started struggling a lot with motivation. I wasn’t able to wrap my head around what they wanted me to do.” Seamus said.

Seamus graduated from Grade 9 with an average in the 90s and he said it was a little scary when he found it difficult to do his school work. “I started to get almost angry with myself because I felt I should be able to do everything they were telling me to do,” he said. “But there was something blocking me from even starting a lot of the projects. I would sit there on a screen trying to do my work and my mind would go blank. And I asked for help numerous times but to almost no avail. Which was very frustrating.” He said he was offered a space in the school’s learning centre but that didn’t help.

Seamus said that since the new semester started with new courses in February, he is trying to get to school every day. “I’m trying my best to tough it out,” he said. “But it’s a struggle.”

Last semester, “I was going to school two, maybe three times a week. Sometimes I wouldn’t go for whole week because I just really didn’t feel like they were going to put any effort into helping a struggling student,” he said.

The Whites say they are beyond frustrated with the school system.

“We’ve asked for meetings but I get maybe three or four minutes on the phone with a vice-principal who said he checks in with my son during the day and said everything seems OK,” Brian said. “When he’s there.” An appointment was set up with a school social worker but Brian said his son missed the appointment.

Gayle Lalonde, a social worker with School Mental Health Ontario, a team funded by the Ministry of Education that works with school boards to support student mental health, said, “Typically, when a student is experiencing prolonged absenteeism, the principal or vice-principal will call the parents to develop a plan for how to best to support the student.”

The plan might involve finding an alternative space in the school or community where the student can work rather than in the classroom, connecting with a school social worker or even having a delayed start time.

“Our understanding of school avoidance has evolved and changed over the years,” Lalonde said. “It’s not just about addressing students’ academic needs but also their emotional needs.”

Boswell said Canada is behind other countries when it comes to understanding the issue of school absenteeism. “It is too often misunderstood as an issue created by the parents or by the young person,” she said. “So there’s a lot of language infused with blame and shame, including the term ‘school refusal.’ It’s not a student refusing to go to school — they want to be in school.” Boswell said the school system needs to figure out, “How do we support the individual brain needs of students and the learning differences? We’re not one-size fits all but that’s unfortunately how the education system is designed.”

Boswell has produced what she said is the first comprehensive guidebook on the topic. Called “Supporting Students with School Phobia: A Guidebook for Families and School,” it outlines how to create a schoolwide approach with a student’s family treated as a key member of the education support team.

Liana Lowenstein, a Toronto child and family therapist, said she has definitely seen an uptick in school avoidance issues since the pandemic. Lowenstein, who presents webinars on school avoidance to mental health professionals, said there are a variety of reasons why kids might avoid going to school. “They may be fearful about tests or performing in a school play,” she said. “Or it could be related to social issues such as bullying or fears about something going on at home.”

“At the most mild end of the spectrum are kids who are chronically late for school, complaining in the morning they don’t want to go,” Lowenstein said. “And then there are kids who haven’t been to school in months. At the far end of the spectrum are kids that rarely leave their bedrooms.”

Getting kids back to school can be a delicate balance of doing things that are uncomfortable but manageable, said Dr. Marlene TaubeSchiff, a psychologist with a private practice based in Toronto. Sometimes that involves coaching kids over the phone as they approach the school. “I might say something like, ‘Can we start off by just getting out of the car? OK, can you walk up to the school door for me? Can we walk into the school together?’ ”

Glenda Carleton, a school attendance counsellor with the Thunder Bay Catholic School Board, said sometimes the best option is to go to the student’s home and knock on the door to see what help is needed.

In such cases she will bring a gift card for the local Walmart so that families can buy whatever they need “because right now socio-economic impacts are huge for many families,” she said.

“I might even offer them a lift because transportation can be an issue.” Carleton said the problem is that if kids are not in school they can’t access the school’s support services. “And they may not be able to access mental health supports in their communities because there aren’t any or because waiting lists are long.”

She said, “At the end of the day, it takes a village to raise a child, and if the village is struggling, that impacts the wellness of the whole community.”

‘‘ We are seeing our gifted child risk his entire future because he can’t get through sitting in a regular classroom. BRIAN WHITE PARENT