School refusal triples since COVID-19 lockdowns

Kath Mackay’s youngest son has been struggling with school refusal for the past three years.

“When it was really bad, he would be hiding under the doona, crying and shaking, not wanting to go to school. When he was at school, there were behavioural issues and we were being called to collect him,” she said.

/ Kath Mackay

Ms Mackay has gone to numerous psychologists, paediatricians and assessments to try to figure out why her son has been reluctant to go to school but has not been able to pinpoint a specific reason or diagnosis. “As he is getting older, the issues are getting more complex and more serious.”

Bayside School Refusal Clinic director John Chellew said he had noticed a “significant increase” in referrals since the COVID-19 lockdowns in Melbourne last year.

“Statistics were saying between 2 and 5 per cent of children, up until last year, were school refusing. That then doubled last year,” Mr Chellew said.

“Anecdotally, now we are thinking about the statistics trebling.”

What is school refusal?

School refusal is when children or teenagers get extremely upset about going to school, and consistently say they cannot or will not attend classes.

It is an emotional or behavioural problem, not a formal psychiatric diagnosis. There are many reasons a child might start refusing to go to school including social problems, anxiety, autism spectrum disorder, or trauma.

“A transition from primary school to secondary school is a big jump. The social complexity massively increases in secondary school,” Mr Chellew said.

As well as starting high school, Mr Chellew said other common “trigger events” included parents separating or a grandparent dying. “[School refusal] is a massive problem that hasn’t really been that public,” he said.

Different solution for every child

Mr Chellew said treating students for school refusal was like being a detective — you had to find out where the problems were in the child’s world and collectively come up with a “return to school plan”.

“For every child, there is a different solution,” he said.

With clients, Mr Chellew tries to make the child feel like they are the captain of their team and everyone else in their life — parents, teachers, psychologists, counsellors — are there to support them.

“School attendance problems, if they are not treated early, can become an ongoing and more intractable problem … going forward in life. It’s a planned coordinated response that works. That can be tricky to get to that place,” he said.