Mental Health Blog

Understanding How Chronic Absenteeism and School Avoidance Affect Families

School avoidance disrupts families, creating both intrapersonal distress (and sometimes related physical symptoms) and relationship tensions between parents and children, between parents, and between siblings. Parents report feeling scared, exhausted, overwhelmed, and helpless.

| 7 min read

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July 23, 2024

School avoidance disrupts families, creating both intrapersonal distress (and sometimes related physical symptoms) and relationship tensions between parents and children, between parents, and between siblings. Parents report feeling scared, exhausted, overwhelmed, and helpless.

July 23, 2024

The academic, social, and emotional learning gaps associated with school avoidance can lead to significant long-term consequences for affected students including a greater likelihood of dropping out, and poor occupational, interpersonal, and health outcomes.

July 17, 2024

Occasional feelings of anxiety are a normal part of life, but panic attacks and panic disorders are not.

June 27, 2024

As the youth mental health crisis rages on, educators and policymakers must take quick and definitive steps to raise awareness of mental health issues in our schools, our homes, and our communities.

June 20, 2024

As we travel through the life cycle – from infancy, to childhood, to adolescence, to adulthood, and then to old age – we are challenged by the transitions that exist both between and within each stage of development.

June 6, 2024

Even in areas where acceptance and inclusivity are high, trans kids and other youth with minority sexual orientations and gender identities can still experience rejection, discrimination, and bullying.

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Our Unwavering Focus on Data Collection

At ESS, we have an unrelenting focus on data, measuring results, and communicating to our partners the proven impact our programming has on mental health, school outcomes and financial sustainability.

With every ESS partner, we will:

• Set data driven goals at the beginning of every implementation

• Have regular “Report Card” meetings in which we share the impact of ESS services

• Monitor data along the way to look for potential risk areas so that these can be proactively addressed

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