What is behind the rise in ‘school phobia’?

In The News · Apr 8, 2024 · 26m

Nearly three years have passed since Irish schools started reopening in March 2021 and children began returning to the educational environment that was abruptly erased from their lives the previous year.

In the months that followed children and teens, who had spent months locked in their homes keeping up with classes through Zoom lessons, began reacclimatising to the social environment of a busy classroom. For most, this was relief. But for a small but significant cohort, returning to school was not desirable or, in some cases, even possible.

Three years on, school absenteeism is on the rise…