School refusal can mean that children have trouble going to school or trouble leaving home – they might not go to school at all. Children who refuse to go to school usually spend the day at home with their parents’ knowledge, even though their parents try really hard to get them to go.
School refusal is not a formal psychiatric diagnosis. It’s a name for an emotional and/or behaviour problem.There’s rarely a single cause of school refusal. It might be linked to separation anxiety, worries about leaving home, a phobia, depression, learning difficulties or social problems at school.