You expect that your child should follow the rules and go to school during the week but they’ve decided to do something else. How can you get them back into school without causing a row?
You may have had suspicions or you may have been blissfully unaware until school contacted you about unexplained absences, but finding out your child has been truanting can be extremely upsetting. The most important thing is helping your child get back to school, and this can require patience and time.
Children have different reasons for deciding to skip school and getting to the bottom of those reasons is usually the key to helping them change their behaviour. There might have been a fallout with friends or bullying at school, their self-esteem might be low for some reason, and this could be affecting them, or they may be struggling with dyslexia or other learning difficulties or disabilities. There might have been problems for a while that you were unaware of, or something that has flared up suddenly.
What you can do:
- Talk to them - it can be easy to react in anger to the news that your child has been truanting, but it’s important that you try to keep calm to find out why they made this decision. Be direct and clear, but don’t shout.
- Listen carefully - write down what your teenager says if it helps you so that you can pinpoint exactly why they decided to miss school
- Make an appointment at school - talk to your child’s form tutor about the reasons for their absence. They will want to help and may be able to put plans in place
- Talk to a counsellor - if you feel that you need help from someone not related to your child’s school, you can chat to one of our counsellors
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