School avoidance: Students refusing to go to school a growing crisis post-COVID

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'School avoidant behavior, also called school refusal, is when a school-age child refuses to attend school or has difficulty being in school for the entire day. Several mental health experts told USA TODAY it has become a crisis that has gotten worse since the COVID-19 pandemic.' The only reason I was not one of these kids was out of extreme fear of authority (most of all, my parents), along with outright ignorance that I even had any option of opting out. Back in the ‘80s and early ‘90s - at least in my area - even the most rotten kids still did not dare cut classes on any sort of regular basis. One time, late in senior year, we took off in some kid’s car to eat lunch at a local pizza joint, and were relieved that we didn’t get caught. I may have snuck out of a pep rally or two, but that was about the extent that I would ever dare ‘play hooky.’ In retrospect, I should have just said ‘f**k it’ and not have cared. For all the good earning decent grades, dutifully following the rules, and dealing with my a**hole peers ultimately did me; I may have even turned out a more healthy person than the one I became. Still, I would not want to be a kid today for anything, and I do not blame these ones for pushing back against the hellscape they were born into. {USA Today 5/15}

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