Neighbours child off school at least once a week

[Browneyedgirl3107]

Would a school see it a problem if a child is off school at least once a week?
My neighbours 6yr old always seems to be off school at least once a week although when I see him he is fine but the mum always uses the same excuse 'he didnt seem right this morning so I kept him at home'
The walls in our house are very thin and on numerous occasions I have heard them arguing over the fact that he is quite behind the other children in his class and he also has speech problems. Maybe Im just being silly but I cant help but feel sorry for him getting told off by them for being how he is when they are the ones keeping him off school for what seems no apparent reason. Advice anyone?x

The op would be too busy hoiking her judgey pants for that then drip feeding to try and get other people to judge

ummmmm wetting bed is quite often genetic, is not treated as a medical problem til the child is age 7 in most areas, resolving at age 11 is perfectly normal. I'm not sure why you think this is not ok, OP. Or why you appear to think that bedwetting and MH are linked issues

I think it is an authorities prob. Or we would all end up running neighbours lives.It would not work

I don't see why so many people are having a go at the OP. She's not storming round there mouthing off. Unless there is a genuine health reason that she's unaware of, no child should be missing 20% of school.
How he is supported to learn and any behaviour issues dealt with when he is there is a completely seperate issue, if he's not there, he's not learning (unless parents are HE which sounds very unlikely).

Why do those who are keen to insult the the OP with 'judgey pants' and 'mind your own business' comments not see that they are being the most judgmental of all. At least the OP knows the people she is concerned about, she is not just working from an internet posting. If more people worried about neighbours' children maybe some abuse would be prevented.
And as for assuming that the OP thinks that mental health issues means the neighbours shouldn't be allowed children - well. words fail me!

I shall tell you why Badger - the OP posted a very reasonable concern about the child next door not attending school. Folk pointed out that the school will most likely be aware of any problems and tht the OP should probably not get involved.

So rather than saying "ah, right - fair dos, thanks for the advice, i'll just keep a wee eye out for him" she went on to try and justify herself by slating the parents.

"there are mental health issues in the house" how the fuck is that relevant?

She used that comment to try and justify her "concerns".

I have MH issues

I am far from a perfect parent

The two are not connected

The whole point Baking is, yes, you are right, of course he should be in school - but he isn't, this is bad - there may be a reason, they may well be shit parents, but if the neighbour has noticed this through her net curtains then im pretty sure the school have noticed too. Maybe the little boy doesn't want to go to school because he is struggling and his mum doesn't want to force him? Maybe she is over protective (i knew parents like this, they would keep their lad off school if he so much as sneezed, it didn't help him - the school dealt with it, they weren't bad parents just a little overprotective).

If i am wrong (i often am) i admit it, i don't try and drag dirt out on people just to get people to agree with me.

Of course mental health issues might have an impact on a child. As would any other health or financial issues the parents might be suffering from. Why do assume its a derogatory statement?

Yes Badger you are right - however to use "mental health issues" in the house to justify the OPs judging is bordering on prejudice.

Then, of course, there's the link between having a child with undiagnosed learning disabilities and finding this depressing/difficult to deal with when you are not receiving adequate support and are scared that people will blame you for the problems rather than perceiving them as having originated with the child. And the difficulty of dealing with a child developing in an atypical way when there is a bit of a family history of this together with a history of previous generations reacting badly to it and with a sense of shame, creating a whole terror of history repeating itself which disables the family from reacting more calmly and rationally to their dilemma. This can often result in the parents reacting badly to the child's issues and outside concern, which simply goes to increase the chances of an outsider being judgmental, so creating a self-fulfilling prophecy... I feel sorry for the boy and the family, since it sounds as though they are going through a difficult time at the moment dealing with things. I seriously doubt the school isn't aware of regular absences, however!

I agree with Badger, of course it can have an impact and if it does it is right to do something about it because the priority here is the child, specifically the concern for the child not attending school once a week. It can't be unsaid at the risk of offence. If their MH issues are related to this problem a solution has to be found that identifies that. The most important person in this scenario is the child.