Expert responds to police knocking on doors of kids absent from school and threatening parents with prison

Schools are sending police to shout at kids, and threaten their parents with prison, if they don't attend. An education expert gives her opinion on why this approach won't work, and what should be done to support struggling families.

School fines are set to rise this August, and with that news comes an increase in parents being fined and prosecuted for unauthorised school absences. With their heavy-handed approach, authorities are failing to take into account the plethora of reasons children can be persistently absent or late for school. Experts believe that in many cases, it's not school refusal, it's EBSA - emotional-based school avoidance.

A record 150,000 children at state schools were classed as severely absent in 2022-23. Many aren't skipping school because they or their parents are 'lazy.' Some children will feel physical symptoms of anxiety at having to attend, that manifest as them appearing unwell. Others might struggle with being surrounded by large numbers of children, or have teachers that don't have time to understand their complex needs. All of these issues can result in school attendance being really challenging. 

It's unhelpful to hear that schools are being put into such a difficult position by the government to fix the attendance crisis, they're sending police to the homes of absent children. As per The Guardian, parents are reporting community police forcing entry to their homes, and shouting at their children that they must attend school. They're also been directly told their parents will be sent to prison, if they still fail to make it to the classroom. 

Qualified teacher and therapist at Outlet 10 Discussions, Molly Potter, spoke to us about her opinion of this intrusive method of getting children into school. Molly said "Oppressive measures like this will only cause resentment and upset. While school attendance is important and non-attendance correlates with poor social outcomes, the underlying issues for why a child is struggling to attend will not be addressed by intimidating parents/carers into forcing their children to school. In fact, this is likely to put unhelpful strain on already stressed family situations." 

Described as a "coercive attendance drive," other parents describe children hiding in fear when an attendance or police officer arrives at their home, insisting on talking to them. As a result, some children are having difficulty eating, sleeping, and are having nightmares over this intrusion into their homes.

Although it appears quite different to the reality, a spokesperson for the Department for Education told The Guardian: "We know some children face greater barriers to attendance, like pupils with long-term medical conditions or special educational needs and disabilities. That is why we are taking a support-first approach to tackling absence, setting clear expectations that schools and local authorities work closely with families to identify and address the underlying issues."

Molly Potter concludes: "Generally I find schools work well with families of school refusers or those with poor attendance using more supportive approaches. Although these can be time consuming, they are more effective in changing a child's willingness to attend."

For more on children's mental health, experts offer their best advice for those raising an anxious kid, and how to teach emotional intelligence.