The Benefits of Online Schooling for students struggling with Emotionally Based School Avoidance
In a previous post The Emotional Benefits of Online Education, we explored the ways in which our online school enables students to gain confidence while learning in an environment free from the causes of social anxiety. This post is written as a response to the growing number of parents we have spoken to whose children are avoiding school for emotionally based reasons.
If your child avoids school as a result of anxiety, they are not alone.
- The numbers of young people absent from school as a result of the symptoms of EBSA are on the rise.
- Across the UK, regions report that as many as 5% of school-aged children do not attend school as a result of anxiety with many others suffering the same symptoms while at school.
- UNESCO estimates that 10.9 million children have struggled to return to school post-COVID as a result of EBSA.
Living with a child with Emotionally Based School Avoidance
- Each morning the fear and anxiety in the young person mounts to the point that they complain of real or feigned illness (headaches, stomach problems, sore throat).
- Symptoms of anxiety recur- racing heart, shaking, sweating, difficulty breathing, butterflies and nausea, pins and needles.
- There is a rise in domestic stress levels; a sense of helplessness as another day of absenteeism occurs; the knowledge that more learning opportunities are missed. his is exacerbated by the threat of punitive interventions such as local authority fines for non-attendance.
- Our children become increasingly isolated by their fear of the social aspects of school and the sense that they are missing out.
How can online learning support young people with EBSA?
As the graphic demonstrates, Benbridge Academy’s holistic online school is the ideal solution for EBSA students for whom traditional school is no longer an option.
- The safety offered by small, online classes facilitated by teachers involved in formulating an individualised journey for every student removes the fear and anxiety associated with school attendance.
- Our Personal Education Plans are developed through a deep knowledge of each student’s emotional and academic context.
- With teachers who understand the difficulties EBSA families have faced, we prioritise pastoral care and nurture warm, purposeful relationships with all parties. In this environment, students develop friendships at their own pace in the 21st century online world that they regard as ‘home’.
- Rather than being perceived as ‘socially isolated’, successful online learners are encouraged to model successful 21st century learning skills: collaborative problem solving, independent critical thinking, high levels of technical proficiency, emotional resilience and empathy.
- The pressures of missed learning are soon reduced as a result of differentiated learning plans for every child. Bespoke curriculum designs mean that students focus on key areas of learning rather than becoming overwhelmed by a seemingly unsurmountable backlog due to long periods of school avoidance.
