There has been a substantial increase in absenteeism and truancy in our public schools. This is due to an overwhelming demand on our students regarding heightened academic pressure, co-curricular activities, social media, and volunteerism just to keep up in school and fit in (Kearney, 2004; Kearney Keppens, 2023). This affects 1-5% of our student population annually and doesn’t discriminate based on sociocultural demographics (Kearney et al., 2004). Further, those numbers increase to 5-28% when considering broader behavioral issues such as anxiety, mental health, truancy, leaving class, and hiding out of sight in our schools. (Egger et al., 2003; Havik et al., 2015). These actions can and may lead to suicidal tendencies if not addressed, and teachers who are on the frontlines often struggle to understand the underlying causes of school avoidance behavior and absenteeism from the classroom. A qualitative study of professional staff to include teachers, school counselors, special educators, and interventionists will be administered. This study will use a constructivists approach (Creswell & Creswell, 2023) focusing on the perceptions of school refusal and school refusal behavior in a small educational population.
Mark Steven Fiorentino (Thu,) studied this question.