13 yrs. Grade 8

Elementary School

My son had a psychotic episode two weeks before his 12th birthday. It’s been almost two years, and his mental health recovery has been slow. The first day of grade 7, he curled up in a ball on the floor outside the office, with his hood pulled over his head. People and other kids were staring at him. An Educational Assistant (EA) came over and demanded he remove his hood because it violates school policy. I informed her he was unwell and not coping. Removing the hood would cause further stress. She looked at me and said, “Oh. This is…

9 yrs. Grade 4

Elementary School

My daughter has been feeling anxious about going to school. She feels she does not fit in, that no one likes her, and she just wants to stay home. The teachers have been great, but I worry about the time it is taking them to cater to her when they have 30 other children that need to learn.

8 yrs. Grade 2

Elementary School

Please feel free to use any of my longer-form answers, in full or in part, if it helps to illuminate points you want to address. I firmly believe we can’t really deal with this sufficiently if we don’t take into account all the social factors surrounding the issue (parents in precarious work/gig economy, lack of social supports at school, curriculum still stuck in an outmoded and outdated approach to learning).

9 yrs. Grade 4

Elementary School

Things were fine with my son until this year, grade 4. I was warned about his teacher, that she favours girls and is hard on boys. My son thinks differently from other children; he is very well-read and is a sponge of information. Within the first few weeks of school, I was getting phone calls and emails about his interjections and questions, which the teacher didn’t approve of. We talked about it at home and that was when the school refusal started. The principal, who is new, also began to micro-manage the school and changed a lot of the structures…

6 yrs. Grade 1

Elementary School

My daughter would love to play and learn like the other kids she knows, but when the bus rolls up, she shakes with fear. She will go to the stairs of the bus and look at me; I will tell her she can do it; and then she will begin to shake her head “no”; and this might turn into her running back to the house or hiding in a bush…anywhere, until the bus driver tells me they can’t wait any longer. Driving her doesn’t work either….she wants to go but then says she can’t. It is like watching a…

13 yrs. Grade 8

Elementary School

There is no one face of anxiety or depression. Compassion and understanding are the key. What if this were your child? Show love and compassion to not just the child but also his/her parent(s). They’re doing their best. It needs to be a collaborative approach built on trust and understanding, to make school a safe and welcoming environment for our most stressed students.

7 yrs. Grade 2

Elementary School

My son has hated school since kindergarten (he’s in grade 2 now) and it breaks my heart. I’ve put him onto the bus crying more times than I can count, then I try to go to work and be productive. Would I continue at a job that I hated? No, but I expect my child to do that. It’s so hard. This year, he finally has a teacher who “gets” him, and I’m terrified to lose her next year. It creates so much anxiety in our house. We are seeing a child psychologist this month and hopefully getting an assessment…

12 yrs, Grade 6

Elementary School

We’ve dealt with school refusal for 6 years, all of my son’s primary schooling. It wasn’t until last year, when he ended up dropping out of grade 5, that I understood school refusal to be a thing. That we weren’t alone. That he wasn’t the only kid unable to attend school at times. School refusal would present itself as severe meltdowns that have even led to very scary panic attacks. My son suffers from anxiety (that most teachers can’t see and therefore refuse to accept as truth), but otherwise does very well in school and has many friends. I’ve asked…

12 yrs. Grade 7

Elementary School

Up until his grade 5 year, my son loved school. However, in grade 5, his teacher did not comprehend that he was not a ‘typical’ grade 5 student. Despite my providing her with information about his LDs, ADHD, executive functioning issues, and his learning needs, she felt he should be able to remember his homework, start his work independently, etc. She also felt she could not continue to follow through on a learning program (that we had paid for and he was successful in) and its basic recommendations, despite my offering to do the “extra work” with him at home…