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Just when I thought it couldn’t get much crazier, I learned that the constellation of potential emotional problems faced by America’s students now includes School Refusal Disorder. For those who are not familiar with the term, or do not find the name self-explanatory, SRD is a syndrome wherein the victim, for various reasons, does not want to go to school. This disorder was first identified at the beginning of WWII, and was called “school phobia.” Researchers have written articles on SRD, speaking of it in very scientific-sounding terms and describing its myriad symptoms in detail. School psychologists, mental health professionals, and medical personnel form teams to provide counseling and guidance for the victims and their families. In one article on SRD, I found the following statement. “Presenting symptoms include fearfulness, panic symptoms, crying episodes, temper tantrums, threats of self-harm, and somatic symptoms that present in the morning and improve if the child is allowed to stay home.”[1] (Please excuse me while I laugh uncontrollably for a few moments.) I seem to remember suffering from this dread disorder for about five minutes once. My mother told me I didn’t have a fever, so I was going to school anyway. Thus I was cured, though the symptoms lingered for nearly thirty minutes. I may have tried to contract the disorder once or twice more, but there was nothing wrong with my mother’s memory. She had seen this malady before and treated it each time with a simple injection. I was injected into a school bus, and off to school I went. I never reported her to the authorities because, back then, they would have been on her side. Admittedly, when I came down with SRD, I was only trying to keep from attending my local parochial school. It was a bright, friendly place where a fair percentage of the students were blood relations of mine, and the nuns (I was Roman Catholic then) obviously loved us despite their vaunted severity. There was no reason inherent in the school which could explain my reluctance to attend. I simply felt, as one of the children in the old Family Circle comic strip put it, “a little bit absent today.” Now don’t misunderstand me. Some cases of SRD have genuine causes – like public school, for example. If I, as a relatively defenseless child, faced the prospect of going into an environment of general godlessness, rampant disrespect, illicit drugs, and senseless violence, I might actually feel fear, panic, and some of those other symptoms of SRD. Fortunately, there is a preventive treatment for SRD - homeschooling. The child never has to fear going to school because he is already there – and in most cases, it’s a comfortable, nurturing place where the older students don’t try to steal your lunch money. [1] Bernstein GA, Massie ED, Thuras PD, Perwien AR, Borchardt CM, Crosby RD. Somatic symptoms in anxious-depressed school refusers. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1997;36:661-8. Sincerely, Mark L. Beuligmann, M.S. Ed. Administrative Director Christian Liberty Academy School System |
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