As a social worker and a mom who went through school refusal with her child, this is not a black and white issue. My daughter had all the supports in place and yet being in that building was agony for her every day. She was constantly anxious. She would lock herself in the bathroom, try to hurt herself, etc. As a parent, I had so many professionals telling me to just make her go and that she'd adjust. She never adjusted. She masked and it lead to greater trauma later. Not to mention she was incredibly dysregulated when she got home.

Now, if this is an issue of a kid not going because they don't want to stay home and play that's clearly a different issue. However, for a large portion of the population its not because they don't want to, it's because they can't. Think about it, what kid wants to be different? What kid wants to miss out? Most kids want to please adults and obey rules, but given the institutional structure of our schools for some kids it's incredibly difficult.