Overcoming School Avoidance: What to Do When Your Kid Won't Go to School

A compassionate guide that tackles one of the fastest-growing issues facing families everywhere: the increasing number of children who are refusing or reluctant to attend school.

When a child stops going to school, the entire family feels the impact. School avoidance may look like defiance, but it's often rooted in anxiety, depression, or other emotional challenges--and influenced by factors within the school environment that can make attendance feel overwhelming. Yet many families and educators are left unsure how to respond.
In this groundbreaking guide, Jayne Demsky--founder of the School Avoidance Alliance--provides a practical roadmap for parents navigating this isolating and often overwhelming experience. Demsky offers strategies that help parents to confidently collaborate with schools, navigate truancy laws, and provide the emotional support kids need to return to a productive and fulfilling school life.
Drawing on over a decade of experience supporting families, Demsky brings deep insight and unwavering commitment to this issue. Her perspective is further enriched by a diverse group of experts, professionals, and advocates who contributed their knowledge and expertise to this book, including these leading authorities: Dr. Christopher Kearney, Director, UNLV Child School Refusal & Anxiety Disorders Clinic; Dr. Daniel Villiers, counseling psychologist; cofounder, the Mountain Valley Treatment Center and the Anxiety Institute; and Dr. Mona Potter, child psychologist and psychiatrist; cofounder and CMO, InStride Health, and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Jayne Demsky is the founder of the School Avoidance Alliance, where she has dedicated over a decade to empowering families and educational institutions in the complexities of school avoidance. The organization was born from the challenges her son faced with chronic school avoidance, filling a critical gap in support, education, and advocacy. Today, the School Avoidance Alliance is the leading resource for school avoidance professional development across the United States. Their flagship courses—“Everything You Need to Know to Get Your Students Back to School” for educators and the “School Avoidance Master Class for Parents”—have transformed the approach of countless school districts. The Alliance’s contributions have been featured in USA Today, Education Week, the Washington Post, ADDitude magazine, Fox News, Good Morning Arizona, CBS News, and more.