What Makes Young People Feel Anxious About School?

School teacher’s role feels ever expanding; but all with the central aim to not only impart knowledge, but to support the emotional and psychological development of young people. An increasing issue within schools, both for individual teachers and SLT is the increasing anxiety young people feel about school, leading to what some have described as an ‘epidemic of school absenteeism’. For a lot of children and young people, this is often best referred to as "Emotionally Based School Avoidance" (EBSA), although is more commonly known as 'School Refusal' (Kearney, 2008).

Trying to compassionately understand what contributes to these children and young people’s anxiety is crucial for identifying the signs early and intervening effectively. Let's take a moment to explore the elements that make school an emotionally daunting experience for some of our students.

Understanding Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA)

The Emotional Underpinnings of EBSA

EBSA is a term used to describe the emotional anxiety associated with attending school (Lauchlan, 2003). The anxiety they experience can manifest itself in various ways—from physiological symptoms like headaches, to psychological cues such as panic attacks. While any child can experience periods of anxiety around school (which I think most adults can relate to), EBSA is when the anxiety becomes persistent and relentless. Sometimes this anxiety gradually builds up year on year, sometimes the anxiety can come on more dramatically due to big changes or events happening; either way, school becomes a place where the young person spends most of their time in a heightened emotional state, often just trying to cope and get through the day.

I recently worked with a Year 8 student, Sarah, who I met at her family home. She presented as confident, relaxed and with a good sense of humour. When we started to talk about school, however, the visible signs of discomfort were palpable. We sensitively explored what about school was leading to such distress using the School Wellbeing Cards, it became clear that she wasn't simply avoiding a math test; she was navigating a complex labyrinth of social anxiety, performance pressures, and past traumas.

The Rise of Persistent Absenteeism In Schools

EBSA is a continuum. It refers to the emotional level CYP experience while within school, with the ‘School Avoidance’ is the coping strategy as an attempt to reduce these feelings. When we look at all the headlines talking about ‘Persistent Absenteeism’, it can feel unsettling at times that little is mentioned from the perspective of CYP, with lots of talk about top down policies to be harsher on parents for ‘enabling this to happen’.

When we look deeper at the research and speak with CYP, there are ever increasing reasons for growing anxiety within school which, if not addressed, leads to more and more time out of school, leading to persistent absenteeism, and making it a vicious cycle difficult to break.

In Sarah's case, her prolonged absence created gaps in her learning, thereby exacerbating her anxiety about school performance. The pressure then created by those (often with well-meaning intentions) to get into school further heightened her anxiety. This is a common pattern and is the reason why, whenever working with CYP experiencing EBSA, I always start by clearly and compassionately explaining that I am not there to get them into school, but rather to explore if there’s any ways to help them feel safe in school.

The 4 Areas To First Explore With EBSA

While there are a broad range of factors which impact CYP feeling safe, secure and comfortable in school, the following are often a good place to start:

1. Academic Pressures

The UK education system, with its emphasis on examinations and grading, can often contribute to anxiety (Putwain et al., 2019). In a world of continually meeting ‘standards’ and the pressures on schools to continually improve outcomes from younger and younger ages, the pressure to perform can be overwhelming. Even when we think children are being ‘shielded’ from this, it’s so engrained within the culture there’s a persistent permeation that runs through and they feel from a young age. What this can mean is that, even for those who do well throughout their early school careers, when they start to struggle within particular subjects, the fear of falling behind becomes huge.

2. Social Challenges

Schools are a social hub. For most people, there’s perhaps no other times in our lives where we spend so much time listening, interacting and socialising with others. Feeling a sense of belonging, peer pressure, bullying, and social isolation each or collectively can turn the school environment into an emotional minefield (Sapouna & Wolke, 2013).

3. The Power of Relationships

The biggest factor for feeling secure within school is consistently the quality of relationships with teachers. Feeling trusting, understood and secure in these relationships can often provide the greatest source of resilience on schools. As Fred Rogers (an American TV host) aptly put it, "Kids don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

4. Sensory Overload

In some cases, anxiety may be induced by the sensory overload experienced. The rising noise levels in the classroom, the echoes in the school hall, the smell of the canteen, the feel of the school uniform are just a small number of situations which can be overwhelming for those with sensory sensitivities (Neil et al., 2016). For those who are over-sensitive to these, it’s not just slightly uncomfortable but can be painful. They can’t ‘tune out’ these experiences, and have to sit there while everyone around them seems to be just fine or potentially feel that they will get into trouble for trying to avoid these (e.g. constantly going to the bathroom for a ‘break’, avoiding wearing school shoes etc.).

Reflective Questions

1. Have you identified students in your classroom who may be experiencing EBSA? (See the Checklist for Attendance Tracking and Support  from EBSA Horizons)
2. What measures is your school currently taking to address persistent absenteeism?
3. Is there someone in school who has experience of working with EBSA (e.g. has taken the EBSA Horizons course)?
4. How might you adapt your teaching style to be more inclusive for students with sensory sensitivity?

Conclusion: Transforming Anxiety into Opportunity

Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA), School Refusal, and Persistent Absenteeism are each terms which reflect critical issues that can profoundly affect a young person’s life and future outcomes. However, as teachers, we’re uniquely positioned to turn these challenges into opportunities for growth, and the profoundly positive effect that we can have by taking a compassionate approach cannot be overstated enough.

EBSA Horizons School Staff Training

EBSA Horizons School Training is a comprehensive CPD course for School Staff, which develops understanding and skills (alongside a lot of resources) to support children and young people experiencing difficulties attending school. This course has been updated for 2023 with a new chapter -

Chapter 6:  The Systemic Change Model of EBSA

Find out more about EBSA Horizons School Training here and register your interest to receive 3 FREE resources from this course.

EBSA Horizons Educational Psychologist CPD

EBSA Horizons is a comprehensive CPD course for EPs, which develops understanding and skills (alongside a lot of resources) to support children and young people experiencing difficulties attending school. This course has been recently updated for 2023 with two new chapters -

Chapter 6:  Supporting Autistic CYP Experiencing EBSA

Chapter 7:  Entrenched EBSA

Find out more about EBSA Horizons here and register your interest to receive 3 FREE resources from this course.

References

Ingul, J. M., Klöckner, C. A., Silverman, W. K., & Nordahl, H. M. (2012). Adolescent school absenteeism: modelling social and individual risk factors. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 17(2), 93–100. Link

Gershenson, S., Jacknowitz, A., & Brannegan, A. (2017). Are Student Absences Worth the Worry in U.S. Primary Schools? Education Finance and Policy, 12(2), 137–165. Link

Kearney, C. A. (2008). School absenteeism and school refusal behaviour in youth: A contemporary review. Clinical Psychology Review, 28(3), 451–471. Link

Lauchlan, F. (2003). Responding to chronic non-attendance: A review of intervention approaches. Educational Psychology in Practice, 19(2), 133–146. Link

Neil, L., Olsson, N. C., & Pellicano, E. (2016). The relationship between intolerance of uncertainty, sensory sensitivities, and anxiety in autistic and typically developing children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 46(6), 1962–1973. Link

Putwain, D. W., Sander, P., & Larkin, D. (2019). Academic buoyancy and the experience of stress and of using stress management strategies. *School Psychology International, 40*(3), 263–282. Link

Sapouna, M., & Wolke, D. (2013). Resilience to bullying victimization: The role of individual, family and peer characteristics. Child Abuse & Neglect, 37(11), 997–1006. Link