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school refusal

7 replies

catsruleok · 10/06/2024 10:51

Just venting as no one to talk to today.

I am so mad at him. Really feel this morning was won't do not can't do. School supportive and told me we could take tomorrow as another day.

I was dropping him off to ease the anxiety of walking to school and he did a runner whilst I nipped upstairs to close the bathroom window.

Then two hours of him texting me of what was going to happen if he came home. Felt like he was holding me to ransom.

Year 9 and we've had anxiety on and off over the school years but so awful now.

So this is it then no education no job.

I know it is FASD & whatever else is undiagnosed and who knows what else is happening.
It must awful to be be a teenager in 2024 but i just needed to write this down to get it off my chest as at times he is down right nasty.

thanks for listening

OP posts:
ImStillStandingApparently · 10/06/2024 11:50

Just posting quickly in solidarity. No answers here, just acknowledging that it's a rubbish situation and not fair on you.

If you want advice, you could potentially ring the school again, speak to the pastoral team (ask for the Designated Safeguard Lead if you feel fobbed off, let them know it's an 'urgent safeguarding matter' and so you'll hold until they put you through to a trained DS staff member) and just tell them how you're feeling. Let them know what you need them to do tomorrow, and if that's letting them be bad cop then tell them.

Sending good thoughts :-)

Ted27 · 10/06/2024 16:19

Hi @catsruleok
Its hard to know the difference between can't and won't sometimes.
It's not a problem I had to deal with so I won't offer you any advice on that.

My first thought though when you said Y9 was GCSEs.
Could this be a contributing factor? If he is generally anxious at school I'd look very carefully at this. Better to take 5 and pass than take 9 and fail.
There is way too pressure on all kids about this. The world isn't going to ended he doesn't get 9 gcses when he is 16.

There are lots of opportunities and pathways, maybe he won't be ready for GCSEs until he is 18 or 20. That's OK.
I used to have a long standing discussion with an adopter friend about our respective children 'catching up'. She was adamant that her daughter should be where everyone else was and put a lot of pressure on her. I was more focused on seeing my son progress. When he arrived he was in special school and seriously delayed. He's just finished his first year at uni.

He took 5 GCSEs and 2 Btecs, very average grades, and did a level 3 BtEC at college. He did need a contextual offer for his uni place but he was only short by a few points.
So in waxing lyrical about my son, what I'm trying to say is year 9 is not the be all and end all.

Torvy · 10/06/2024 23:29

Oh it is horrible to be a teenager, but it must also be horrible to be a teenager who is struggling's mum in this day and age too. The two do not cancel each other out! And you are here on mumsnet so you get to have sympathy for being a mum in this situation. And having to parent a highly reactive and responsive teen in a world designed for quick likes, immediate engagement and constant overstimulation is hard, especially when we know the pitfalls they are likely to encounter but we are roundly ignored.

You say school are supportive, but I hope that means they are supporting you with actual help not just sympathy. Like, I'm assuming they have already got him referred to some attendance programmes, mentoring sessions, the EWO if necessary? If he is finding school tricky, they should be putting plenty into place to support him and therefore allowing themselves to be the bad guys. Whoever is in pastoral shoud be giving support in whatever way he needs it.

I would agree with PPs, there is a lot of time between now and year 11 to settle down and get some GCSEs under his belt, but even if he doesn't there are other options (not that lots of mainstream secondaries will focus on that). But I get that it feels frustrating right now, especially if he has the capacity but won't engage with things designed to help him. I probably don't need to state this but I will- your child is not a simple reflection of you, you are separate entities. You can't control their actions, and there is an element of decision making as to whether he will even notionally engage in whatever help is being offered (i.e being driven to school). It is sometimes poor choice making, driven by influences of brain chemistry, but it isn't something that you can ultimately control- possibly you might influence it, but control it? No. If it were you, I presume you would have made a different choice in that situation, and so don't let yourself or anyone else make you feel bad. You made as many accomodations as possible to make it happen, and it was his brain that made him do what he did today. You couldn't really have done much more.

In terms of him being nasty, that's really difficult. Is there any way that you can resolve this bit and reconnect or have him in some small way recognise the impact of it? I think I would find that the hardest part, especially after I had offered a lift! Is there anyone else who could give him a nudge to help him start to repair? If not, is there something you could do to make yourself feel better? I always suggest wine or chocolate, but maybe a nice cup of tea with friends for the equivalent two hours he spent texting you? A long bath with extra bubbles once he has gone to bed with a extra saucy romance scene that would make him blush if he knew you were reading it? I feel like it is important to get a sense of clawing back something for yourself that he would not be able to spoil, or that links directly to fixing what he 'broke'- i.e. your enjoyment of the day for that two hours he absconded for and was sending you horrible things. If he can't make amends, then it's almost like you are making amends for him. Being on the recieving end of daily or regular bashing is absolutely draining. It's easier said than done, but try to do some self care, or allow someone to take care of you for a bit in whatever way feels good.

Finally, you said about stuff being undiagnosed, I'm sure you will be on it in terms of chasing diagnoses, but a friendly reminder to follow up with all avenues of support to get them and the support he needs. If he is in year 9 and truanting and absconding, that is definitely a huge safeguarding risk and school should be escalating this and not accepting it saying let's just try again tomorrow if you aren't happy with that. Be as blunt as you can stomach. Plus a GP could do a CAMHS referral, school could refer to a mentoring scheme etc etc. you could reach out to PAS too if you havent already. Forgive me if I'm teaching granny to suck eggs, but even if you just send off a couple of chasing emails it might make you feel less helpless.

It's probably all a lot more complicated than anything I've suggested, and there are a million reasons to not be able to do any of it, but please do try to do something nice for yourself even if he can't/won't. Parenting is hard enough without depriving yourself of a little win in the face of overwhelming need every now and then!

TeenDivided · 23/06/2024 15:01

My ADD missed all y11 in 20-21 with MH issues. She has done 2 years at college, is just finishing a gap year, and is hopefully returning to college in September to do a level 2 course. No GCSE grade 4+s to her name.

There is always a way. It may be circuitous though.

TeenDivided · 23/06/2024 15:02

PAS stepped up for us in a way no one else did.

catsruleok · 26/06/2024 14:50

My huge thanks for your replies. Been a tough few weeks and I just couldn't find the energy to log on and just acknowledge your replies.

I have read over them all and it has helped so much.

typical roller-coaster effect and we had excellent school attendance but this week it has been 3 straight days of not being in school.

1st day he legged it & hooked up with a pal who is on reduced timetable and they had a fab time wandering around town. The pal has since been grounded (something he did last week has caught up with him) but still my son would not go to school.

Last week he was so proud showing me his work since starting the Year 10 options. Sigh

I hid the xbox and tv remotes, he still has his phone so hardly worth the effort but I felt better - pretty petty eh ?

OP posts:
Torvy · 27/06/2024 00:50

Oh friend, petty is sometimes where it's at.

Mine are only 3 and 4, but they get 2 sweets at the end of the day if they don't deck me in the face too much of an evening. One day, when I had been hit with a broom one too many times I went to the box and ate all their favourite flavour ones in front of them so they couldn't have the best ones for a week until I did the next shop.

I'm not proud of myself, but sometimes petty revenge is the best self care.

Hope your son gets himself back into the swing of things in a bit soon and that the rollercoaster evens out!

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