ABSTRACT
When your 5–10-year-old refuses to go to school you have a very difficult challenge to cope with. Each child will put forward a different reason to justify his not wanting to go to school. If you have learnt in the past that your child tends to complain of physical problems whenever he experiences anxiety or faces some activity that he dislikes or fears, then it may be worth your while to delay the medical visit and, instead, try to discuss the situation with him in terms of school attendance. If the complaint involves school life, then it is important to discuss it in detail and suggest taking the matter to school staff. “A true school phobia” depicts a child in a state of terror, full of anxiety and fear of falling victim to something or somebody that, not knowing how or where it would come from, he pinpoints as located at the school.
