It’s 7:15 a.m. on a weekday, and your physically healthy tween or teen is refusing to go to school. Maybe it’s tears, maybe it’s a stomachache that came out of nowhere, maybe it’s a flat, unyielding “I’m not going.” Whatever form it takes, school avoidance puts parents in a genuine bind: You want to honor how much your child is struggling, and you also know that letting your child opt out—even once—can make the problem worse. If you find yourself facing a moment like this one, here are three steps to take.
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