There seems to be growing evidence of a condition known as School Phobia. It was fi rst recorded in America around 1941, then gained further attention in the 1960’s, and has become more commonly diagnosed in recent years.
Kay Mawson, the mother of suff erer Andrew, describes School Phobia as the ‘fear of school,’ which brings on debilitating symptoms. She says that to avoid the fear, children exhibit behaviour often called School Refusal. For her son the causes were a sensation
of
feeling trapped and out of control in school and therefore feeling insecure and unsafe. He also suff ered from separation anxiety resulting from being apart and out of contact with those he cared about, and being fearful that something might happen to them. Kay feels it is important to raise awareness of the condition because it is commonly misunderstood, and often remains untreated. Many parents become distressed at fi nding themselves struggling with courts, schools and truancy issues.
Last years Netmums and the TV programme This Morning carried out a poll of 1,054 parents. This suggested that one in fi ve British children suff er from School Phobia but only half of parents are aware of it. Children aged fi ve to six and 10 and 11 were the most frequent suff ers. Common behaviours include faking illness to try to avoid school, or going for registration and then leaving. Many suff erers have temper tantrums and scream and kick if forced to attend. Forty six percent of those referred to in the study also became
ill with genuine stress related conditions such as headaches and stomach aches. Many had diffi culty sleeping.
Whilst in some cases the factors were not related to specifi c instances at school, the parents of other suff erers felt the condition had been triggered by bullying, under- performance or a general sense of being overwhelmed by school expectations.
The study suggests that many parents struggled to get help; indeed some experts claim that parental behaviour has sometimes made cases worse. Some parents have been able to get their children medically diagnosed with School Phobia, and pupils in the UK have obtained places at special units for anxious and school phobic children.
There remain diff erences of opinion on the best way to handle the condition. Some feel that getting the child into school is crucial even if it involves parental accompaniment and perhaps arranging special acclimatisation sessions. Some parents have found that moving their child to a more supportive school helped tremendously, while others believe that home schooling provides the solution.
Kay Mawson advises parents to research all of the available options and discuss them with their child and perhaps an educational psychologist. That way there is a consensus on the best way to move forward, though arrangements should be reviewed on a regular basis.
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