Reading #2

SCHOOL PHOBIA

In children, one of the most common anxiety disorders; also known as school refusal or school absenteeism. There is some controversy whether refusal to go to school is related to separation anxiety, truancy secondary to conduct disorder or a fear of failure. Fear of going to school may begin as early as kindergarten, but it usually develops during grade or junior high school. In many cases, the child begins to devise reasons for staying home from school. Some develop symptoms, such as nausea, stomachache or headache. Others leave home for school but then return without their parents knowing that they are absent from school, or spend their day elsewhere.

School avoidance should be evaluated and treated as soon as it is detected to prevent future personal, academic and social consequences. A therapist, along with teachers, parents and the child, should try to determine the underlying reasons for the school avoidance. Reasons may include low self-esteem, being teased or bullied by others, being criticized by others or feeling inferior to others. Situations surrounding actual school issues should be considered, such as riding on the school bus, eating in the school lunchroom, using the public washrooms and undressing in the gym locker rooms. Issues of body image may be involved.

Often the child’s mother covertly remembers her own phobic behavior or has anxieties about the child and needs supportive help to not convey her anxieties to the child. Treatment of a child who avoids school should be regarded as a crisis intervention. The goal should be to get the child back in school as soon as possible and attending regularly with less fear and more confidence to meet the daily challenges, whether in the classroom, the playground or the gym. With appropriate counseling and conferences with teachers or other school officials, children and parents can develop a new understanding of the anxieties regarding school attendance. There is some evidence linking early history of school phobia with later occurrences of panic disorder and agoraphobia. Fear of school, or school phobia, is known as didaskaleinophobia

Vocabulary list:

·         Anxiety           : kegelisahan,keinginan.

·         Absenteeism    : ketidakhadiran,kemangkiran.

·         Truancy           : pembolosan,kemangkiran dari sekolah.

·         Nausea            : muak,kemuakan.

·         Inferior            : orang bawahan.        

·         Issues              : pokok persoalan.

·         Supportive       : yang mendukung.

·         Covertly          : dengan diam-diam.

·         Regarding        : mengenai.

·         Occurrences    : kejadian,peristiwa.

Answer the following questions!

1.  1.  When is the fear of going to school begin?2. What are the reasons that usually used by children for staying home and avoid school
   3.   Why is school avoidance should be evaluated and treated as soon as possible?