Yr 7 anxiety and total school refusal

[Kskye]

After ideas. My yr 7 daughter has always walked to the beat of her own drum… a garden loving, music making, exploring child. The past 2 terms of yr 7 have been hell. Kids telling her she eats too much (she is as thin as a rake), kids laughing at what she looks like in school photos, girls telling her they are self harming and want to starve or kill themselves is all compounding her already anxious little soul about school. She is now one sad, teary, yelling 12ur old that is simply refusing to go to school. I am waiting for the school counsellor to call me back but she is begging for me to homeschool her which I am more than happy and capable of doing. I am terrified if we keep pushing her she will loose her joy for life and turn to self harming and suicidal thoughts. It feels like this is the “moment” I will look back on and wish I had pulled her out.

Has anyone else had success pushing through and forcing school?

[Courtney-RO]

Hi @Kskye and welcome to our online community!

I'm sorry to hear that your daughter has been having so much trouble at school, I can only imagine how horrible that must be for you to hear. It sounds like a lot of stress and pressure for your daughter to be going through, especially in year 7. You mentioned that you have been waiting for the school Counsellor to get back to you and I want to say that that's a really great first step. Does your daughter have any other supports around her right now?

The Raising Children's Network have a great article on School Refusal which gives a better perspective on what might be going on and what you can do to help. I wonder if that might be able to give you more of an idea of where to go next. We also have a number of articles on Bullying that could also be worth a look at too.

As this is such a hard situation for any parent to be in, I was just wondering what supports you have for yourself right now? Is there anyone that you feel comfortable talking to about this?

We would love for you to keep us updated with how everything goes. Please remember that you're not alone and we're always here for you.