EBSA - Emotionally Based School Avoidance, We can help!

Many children and young people worry about school. This is normal. Anxieties are part of life and learning to deal with them is part of growing up. However sometimes a child’s worries may lead to difficulties attending school. If your child has high levels of anxiety and does not want to attend school, they may be experiencing Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA), Here are the six key areas for supporting CYP with EBSA. Curious – talk with your child about what is going on for them, be curious about their feelings and help them to describe their emotions. Acknowledge that their fears are real to them. Encourage them to be a ‘thought detective’ and openly discuss their reluctance and anxiety about going to school. Caring – listen well, empathise with your child’s experience, encourage them, don’t ask leading questions, and stay calm. Collaboration – keep a good relationship with school, keeping up a ‘united front’ and holding more conflicted discussions away from your child. Encourage your child to keep in touch with school friends, ensure you are sharing the message that school is not optional, and help them find a purpose they can work towards with the help of education. Control – do as much preparation ahead of the school-day as possible, be consistent and remain focused on the goal, keep up routines, be optimistic with a heavy dose of realism. Small steps may be necessary, and remember your own self-care, so you feel in control as much as possible. Coping – help your child learn about anxiety and coping strategies, normalise anxiety and share that we all have fears, model how to manage these, teach your child that some level of anxiety is helpful as it can motivate us, and encourage your child to engage in activity, exercise and relaxation. Coaching – don’t avoid everything that causes anxiety, be realistic and optimistic showing your child you believe in them, reduce the time your child has to anticipate events so the anxiety cannot build-up too much