REAL LIFE
CLOSER NEWS REPORT
A recent report showed that the number of children persistently absent from school – dubbed ‘ghost children’ – stands at 140,000, and numbers are steadily rising. Closer speaks to two mums about how they cope…
Looking at her 12-year-old daughter, Sarah*, standing at the front door in tears, Emma Hester knew she wouldn’t be able to go to school. It wasn’t that Sarah didn’t want to; she wanted to see her friends, she wanted to learn. But she’d been overcome by crippling anxiety.
It was one of many occasions in the past year that have left Emma feeling desperately sorry for her daughter and despairing about the lack of practical help and support.
Emma, 47, who lives in Ascot, Berkshire with her husband, Jim, Sarah, and their son, Jack*, 10, explains, “People need to understand that it isn’t always children ‘being naughty’ or not wanting to bother with school. My daughter wants to go, but she’s so anxious she can’t. Telling her to “just go in” would be akin to telling someone with anorexia to ‘just eat’.”
WAITING LISTS
She adds, “We got so little support that I ended up quitting my job as a police officer to train to be an occupational therapist and help her, as the two years it will take me to qualify will still be quicker than waiting lists for help on the NHS.
“I get letters from her school, threatening fines and court action and which I know could ultimately lead to prison – but what are parents supposed to do? You feel as if you’re being torn in two directions – by your child and the school. By the end of last term her attendance was at zero.”
PROSECUTED
School absences are at record levels. Latest figures from September to December 2022 show that a staggering 24 per cent of children were persistently absent. Since the Covid pandemic and resulting lockdowns, parental prosecutions have doubled in less than a year. Each month, 1,700 parents are prosecuted, while penalty fines have quadrupled in the last academic year, costing families as much as £12m. Mental health issues are cited as one of the major reasons behind absences – particularly following the pandemic.
Ex-teacher Lucy Alexandra Spencer is the director of Education Boutique (educationboutique.co.uk) and liaises with the government and local authorities to help parents with absent children. She explains, “In the last two years, the number of people coming to us for emotionally based school avoidance (ebsa) has exploded. Unfortunately, parents worry about being fined, so pupils are forced into school, which exacerbates the problem. We see students as young as eight who say they can’t live anymore because they’re so anxious about school. We’re at
