Young people, school attendance and mental health - Emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), Emotionally based School non-attendance (EBSNA) or Barriers to Attendance? A 🧵

I understand the wish of the government to encourage children into school and that being the driving..

force behind it's latest ill-conceived campaign to encourage school attendance. The problem is that it assumes that parents are keeping children away from school, that they can't be bothered to send them in and that if someone seems 'fine in school' then that is what they are...

I also understand that that campaign was never meant to apply to children with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities). But given the waiting lists for diagnosis, and the fact that CAMHS services up and down the country are swamped by the level of need, there will be ..

...lots of young people with SEND and without diagnosis and the understanding of WHY they may be struggling.They can't begin to understand who they are. They are feeling broken. They can't begin to ask for the help that would make all the difference...

The problem is that the rates of probable mental difficulty in the current population is incredibly high (1 in 5 children aged 8 to 25 according to NHS England). This is not a cold. This is not a sniffle...

For some young people, even if they are having difficulties with their mental health, being in school can be a welcome distraction and a chance to be with their friends. This is clearly not the case for everyone...

In the 17-25yr aged cohorts, twice as many young women as men were struggling with their mental health. Given how many girls and women are missed, misdiagnosed and misunderstood, that cannot be a surprise...

Poverty bites.

More than 1 in 4 children between 7 and 16 with a probable mental heath disorder had parents who couldn't afford for them to take part in any activities outside school....

Older teens and adults aged 17-25 were 3 times more likely to be unable to take part in activities such as sports, days out or socialising with friends....