By Lucille Carr-Kaffashan, Ph.D
Of all the challenges faced by U.S. school districts in the four years since the beginning of the pandemic none has been as thorny as the explosion of chronic absenteeism and school avoidance. As reported in March by the NY Times, chronic absenteeism increased from 15% of public school students in 2019 to 26% of students in 2023. No area of the country or student demographic has been immune from this growing and troubling trend.
Numerous accommodations were necessary to carry on during the pandemic ¾ many parents were able to work from home; students attended classes remotely and met class requirements through independent study activities; online shopping, zoom socializing, and livestream attendance at everything from musical performances to worship services became commonplace. These patterns have not fully reversed despite the reopening of workplaces and schools and the lifting of social distancing requirements. There have been far-reaching shifts in the patterns of American families and in their relationships with schools and workplaces, and it is too soon to tell what changes will remain permanent. Within this context schools are scrambling to adjust to their youngest learners who as a group are ill-prepared socially and otherwise for school, and their middle and high school learners who have become increasingly disengaged from school for a host of reasons.
Chronic Absenteeism and School Avoidance: Definitions and Contributing Factors
A student is considered chronically absent when he misses at least 10% of the school year, or approximately 18 days. School avoidance is largely an anxiety-based condition, and these youngsters comprise a subset of chronically absent students.
The causes of chronic absenteeism include but go beyond mental health challenges. A recent article in USA Today offered five reasons for this alarming trend:
- Students increasingly report being bored and disengaged
- Students are struggling with mental health issues
- Students are being bullied
- Students and parents are confused about ever-shifting protocols, e.g., whether a child should attend school if he is experiencing health symptoms, whether remote learning is “just as good” as in-person instruction thus making in-person instruction “optional”
- Many families are navigating financial, safety, childcare, and/or transportation challenges that consistently interfere with children’s school attendance
School avoidance, on the other hand, is a pattern of refusing or avoiding school. It is not a psychiatric diagnosis per se, but rather is a complex syndrome influenced by temperament, genetics, cognitive factors, plus family and school environments. It can involve an unwillingness to attend school at all, and/or an inability to remain in school for the entire day. The average age of onset is between 10 and 13 years old, and it often occurs after a precipitating event such as a parent’s illness, a bullying incident, a move to a new home or school, a death in the family, or a prolonged absence from school for any reason. It is different from truancy which is typically associated with seeking rewards outside of school, is hidden from parents, and is not accompanied by anxiety or emotional distress of any kind. Up to 56% of school avoiding youngsters have a primary diagnosis of anxiety, including generalized anxiety, separation anxiety, or social anxiety, but avoidance can also be a manifestation of and/or co-occur with other significant mental health disorders including depression, bipolar disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
All youngsters with mental health vulnerabilities were impacted by pandemic-imposed social isolation and by the disruption of school routines, but students with histories of school avoidance were amongst the hardest hit. Once in-person classes resumed, however, some students with no prior history of avoidance also began to exhibit these behavior patterns, just as many adults resisted returning to the workplace due to safety and other concerns.
The academic, social, and emotional learning gaps associated with school avoidance can lead to significant long-term consequences for affected students including a greater likelihood of dropping out, and poor occupational, interpersonal, and health outcomes. But research also indicates that the performance of students who are consistently in school also has declined as teachers backtrack to help frequently absent students catch up, and as the awareness of peer absences erodes motivation and engagement in the school community.
Problem behaviors associated with school avoidance often begin the night before a school day, with a child expressing anxiety, begging to stay home, throwing a tantrum, or complaining of illness. In the morning a student might refuse to get out of bed or might move so slowly that she misses the bus, or, if she does make it into school, she might stay out of the classroom, refuse to leave the nurse’s office, or make desperate pleas to go home.
There are many factors that contribute to the development and maintenance of school avoidance, but researchers Kearny and Albano highlight four primary reasons that students avoid school:
- To avoid school-related stimuli or situations that cause discomfort or anxiety (e.g., noisy cafeterias, crowded hallways, taunting by bullies, difficulty with schoolwork because of learning differences, etc.)
- To avoid evaluative or social situations related to school performance (e.g., tests, public speaking, athletic performance, etc.)
- To receive attention from parents or caregivers (e.g., related to separation anxiety or because a child fears for the well-being of one or both parents at home, etc.)
- To seek tangible rewards at home that are more desirable than going to school (e.g., access to video games, sleeping in, working at a job, socializing with non-school friends, etc.)
The most effective school avoidance intervention plans target each factor that is relevant for a given student. For example, gradual exposure and desensitization are relevant for school-related anxiety; social skills training and cognitive-behavior therapy can address social anxiety; trauma-focused interventions are necessary for students who have experienced bullying or other traumas.
Understanding How Chronic Absenteeism and School Avoidance Affect Families
To learn how school avoidance and chronic absenteeism affects families go to PART TWO of this series.
