What to do if your child is skipping school ?

Unexcused school absences make life harder for students, as they lead to detention, extra homework, and other consequences. Worse still, missing school means missing crucial lesson material and the opportunity to learn. Nonetheless, there are many reasons why students choose to skip school:

• A belief that school is pointless
• Built-up frustration due to poor grades
• A conflict with a member of the teaching staff
• Difficulty being accepted by the other students
• Lack of self-esteem
• Etc.

If your child is frequently absent from school without your permission, start by analyzing the situation to find possible explanations. Contact the school principal, your child’s homeroom teacher, or their psychoeducator to get their thoughts and advice.

Asking yourself the following questions could also point you in the right direction:

• How often is your child skipping school?
• Do their absences always coincide with certain classes?
• Where do they go when they decide not to go to school?
• Has their circle of friends changed?
• Has something happened recently that may have upset them?
• Etc.

Once you have the answers to these questions, it’s best to sit down with your child to work out a solution. Without getting mad or assigning blame, remind them of the following:

• The importance of school
• Their favourite classes
• The activities they excel in
• Their future plans and personal goals
• Etc.

Without question, the most serious consequence of absenteeism is dropping out of school. Repeated absences cause students to fall behind, which increases their frustration and their desire to quit. To avoid facing their academic issues, they continue skipping classes, which only aggravates the situation. There are a number of things you can do to try to break this vicious cycle:

• Listen to what you child needs
• Remind your child of their career goals
• Meet with a guidance counsellor to go over your options
• Celebrate every small victory
• Etc.

Preventing absenteeism begins long before a child enters high school. As a parent, you can point them in the right direction through small, everyday actions:

• Schedule medical appointments outside school hours whenever possible
• Be punctual
• Show interest in your child’s schoolwork
• Frequently mention and explain the importance of going to school
• Encourage perseverance in all aspects of life
• Avoid planning family vacations during school days as much as possible
• Etc.

If none of the advice in this article seems to make any difference, your child may be going through something more serious. For guidance on the best way to intervene, consider calling a parent helpline such as LigneParents (French only).