Guardian Australia asked readers to share their experiences of school refusal, the commonly used term for children who are so distressed by school that they are unable to attend. Data that differentiates school refusal from other types of absences is hard to obtain, but anecdotally experiences of school refusal are rising.
We heard from parents, carers, educators and wellbeing counsellors, and former students. Readers spoke of children whose ages ranged from kindergarten to high school, some are dealing with more than one child who can’t attend school.
