10 yrs. Grade 5

Elementary School

My eldest son was suicidal 3 years ago. The demands of school outstripped his ability to meet the expectations. He was in the mental health unit for 2 weeks. Upon returning to school, it was a long, hard battle with a school with zero knowledge of how to help. Ultimately, we had to pull him out to homeschool. He has been out of receiving proper education for 3 years. Our second son, currently 10, is the one from this questionnaire. I had to homeschool all 5 kids last year due to the inexperience of our school. We attend an INCREDIBLE…

8 yrs. Grade 3

Elementary School

Last year, my son would constantly complain that he was too sick to go to school. His stomach would hurt, and we would always agonize about whether to send him to school or not. If we kept him home, he always felt better. We suspected that he had dyslexia, but the school completely ignored our concerns. They blamed us as parents and told us he had a behaviour problem. We finally paid to have a psychoeducational assessment. He was diagnosed with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and school-related anxiety. As a parent, I felt guilty for sending him to school, where he was…

13 yrs. Grade 7

Elementary School

The end of grade 6 was very challenging for my child. He was struggling with anxiety and refusing to attend school, and he missed close to 20 days of school in the last couple of months. As a concerned parent, I advocated for my son and took him to his paediatrician (who was not helpful). We did have a wonderful resource teacher that my son connected with and who provided resources and suggestions. In preparing for the change of schools for grade 7, I made an appointment to see the guidance counsellor with my son before school started to 1)…

14 yrs. Grade 9

Secondary School

My daughter is a bright, intelligent child. She excelled in grade 7. But she was bored. She would always finish early in class. Teachers would tell her to sit quietly if she had no work, sometimes for up to an hour. She was not allowed to go to the library or out in the hall to play cards, etc. In grade 8 (September/October 2018), she became disillusioned with school and started to talk back to teachers. Then teachers would be rude to her, talk down to her, and send her to the office. She started to fake illness to not…

11 yrs. Grade 6

Elementary School

My son has been diagnosed with multiple mental health disorders; stress and lack of structure are triggers. My son has been bullied and suspended many times because his bully will tease and want to fight; then, if my son retaliates, he’s punished every time; if he goes to a teacher, nothing is done, and seeking justice is big for him. If you keep teaching a child that one child’s needs are more important than their own, their anxiety will get higher, their stress will get worse, and therefore everyone is in a worse spot. Teachers don’t realize how little words,…

14 yrs. Grade 9

Secondary School

Our daughter’s IQ is 145 with a processing speed of 96 and a working memory of 100. Because her PS and WM are average, she does not qualify for an LD, according to DSM-V. She would have qualified with DSM-IV. The psychologist told us that she is at a high risk of mental health concerns with this profile but can’t diagnose her with anything. She is a perfectionist and most likely has ADHD. I have ADHD, and so does her brother. Her perfectionism won’t allow her to show her anxiety in public, and her high IQ helps her mask her…

15 yrs. Grade 10

Secondary School

In the second semester of ninth grade, my daughter completely shut down. She is highly intelligent (was advanced a few years in elementary), and I don’t understand why she suddenly stopped getting high marks. She didn’t complete any assignments, and then finally for the month of June, she did not go to school once, not even for final examinations.

10 yrs. Grade 5

Elementary School

My child missed half a school year in kindergarten. Five days a week for 6 hours for a 5-year-old is too much. From kindergarten to grade 3, every morning was a fight…always too tired. Coming home with timed math test with results 2 out of 20 correct was devastating for my daughter’s confidence. Why in god’s name are 8-year-olds undergoing timed math tests that stress them out so much they refuse to go to school?

13 yrs. Grade 8

Elementary School

We have two children with anxiety and school refusal. We have gone from a family who had it all together to barely being able to keep our heads above water. We have lost friends, money, and opportunities. We have not been able to support our parents as they age. Almost every day is a struggle to stay positive.