School Refusal

School refusal is a child-motivated refusal to attend school, or a difficulty remaining in class for a full day, that occurs autonomously by the child's own choice rather than through a parent withdrawing them or being unable to bring them to school. It is characterized by avoidance behavior, emotional distress at the time of attending school, or both. Academic literature estimates that it occurs in one to two percent of the general child population and in five to fifteen percent of youth referred to clinics, though rates of the underlying absenteeism are defined, tracked and reported differently from one school or school district to another, which complicates comparison across settings.