If you notice that your child seems to make every excuse not to go to school, be concerned. If he does it every day, be more concerned. He may be showing signs that he dislikes going to his school. Having a 7-year teaching experience, I have seen students who would rather stay home and learn nothing than go to school.
Top 5 reasons why children dislike school together with the suggested solutions:
1) Bullies
Bullying came out as the top reason why children dislike school, accounting to 45% of responses. This jives with my own analysis. The fact is, bullying in schools is so rampant worldwide. If you care to read the papers or the internet with this topic, you’ll find it in every corner of the globe. For some in-depth insight about bullying, you can read a hub which I wrote about this. Just follow the link below this hub.
In order to solve this problem, ask your child who bullies him. Be careful when asking him because some children do their best to cover up if they are being bullied. This results from their fear of worse consequences if the bully found out that they told their parents about the bully. If he confesses, you can do the appropriate actions based on the severity and your analysis of the personality of the bully. More often than not, it can be solved by inviting the bully over to your house so he can see how your precious child is treated well in your own family. Probe his inner weakness. He may be harboring emotional or attitude problems brought about by his own home environment. Then befriend him. Encourage friendship between him and your child. It will all depend on your strategy. But if it fails, talk with the teacher and discuss your plans to stop him bullying your child. If all else fails, transfer your child to another school. This way, his hate for school because of bullies will be averted.
2) Loneliness
There are children who find it hard to make friends with their classmates or school mates. Some don’t even have friends. This results to loneliness and feeling left out. During class activities, these children are too shy to participate. They keep quiet even during class discussions. According to my survey, some 22% of school children dislike school because they have no friends.
If you notice that your child is feigning illness to avoid going to school, it is best to ask him also if he has friends in school. If none, you can talk to his teacher and ask what could be the reason. Suggest ways to her on how the 2 of you can solve the problem. On the part of the teacher she may pair the lonely child to someone who is also shy during class activities. She can let them sit beside each other. If they click, this will develop their self -confidence. Then pair them with another group of lonely and shy children. Have them interact with one another and before you know it, they will develop a network of friends. In no time, dislike for school is solved..
On the part of the parent, analyze your home situation. There may be something or someone in your home environment that suppress the development of his self-confidence. Being critical of his ways and scolding him too often even for a simple mistake is a sure recipe for stunted psychological development. Constant quarrels among family members also have a profound effect on his dealing with his classmate because it may make him feel embarrassed.
The bottom line is, know what makes your child lonely and addressing it can solve his hate for school.
3. Teacher
The teacher can also cause children to dislike coming to school. This represents 17% of survey responses. There are some children who can’t get along well with their teacher’s style of teaching and discipline. A student who constantly causes disruptions in the class will make not only his classmates but also his teacher to dislike him. This leads him to being scolded often by the teacher which in turn causes him to hate school.
In some cases, some students make up stories about their teacher so their parents will not let them go to school. This signifies an intense dislike for the teacher. The best way to solve it is to talk to the teacher. Let her know the nature of your child. Tell her stories about your child so she will understand why the child acts the way he does. Invite her to your home or join any school activity that requires the presence of parents. This way, your child and his teacher will slowly appreciate each other.
If the teacher remains unfair and mean to him, it is time for school transfer. However, this is a very rare case because the problem is almost always solved.
4. Problem Learning
If a student constantly struggles with his lessons, this may also lead him to dislike school. Finding excuses not to go to school coupled with poor test results are the tell-tale signs that he finds learning school lessons difficult. This reason for hating school takes 9% of the survey responses.
Problem learning is a case which needs swift action. If it persists, the student will most likely struggle throughout his studies and eventually not finish his studies.
Some of the things which a parent can do are: hiring tutors, personally teaching the child, and/or asking the teacher to give more attention to the child (which the teacher can only do so much since there are many students in a class).
Improving the reading comprehension also helps. There are children who find it hard to learn simply because they can’t understand what they are reading. I attest to the correctness of this since all my students who struggle reading also struggle with their other subjects.
Physical defects also contribute to trouble learning. Check to see if your child has a vision or hearing problems. These are the 2 most common physical problems which teachers encounter with students with difficulty in learning.
5. Anxiety
Another reason why children hate school is anxiety. Of all the reasons mentioned, for me it is the most home-oriented. If a child is too much pampered in the home, he will likely fear to be left alone in school by his parents. It is understandable that a child will cry and wail if he attends school for the first time and his mother leaves him with the teacher. Many children adjust later on. However, there are some who can’t get over their fear and anxiety. He may also be anxious and lonely at the same time if he is not able to make friends with his classmates. Family problems may also cause fear to the child and therefore lead him to dislike school. Too much emotional baggage will eventually wear him down.
@NiRaaLi_Man0 @SweeeT_AnGeL