Can I call the police if my child refuses to go to school?

In this blog post, we will try to answer the question ‘Can I call the police if my child refuses to go to school?’ The blog guide also looks at reasons not to call the police if your child refuses to go to school and how to deal with your child who refuses to go to school. 

Can I call the police if my child refuses to go to school?

This may sound absurd, but you can call the police if your child refuses to go to school. 

 When a 14-year-old girl didn’t go to school in Elkhart, her father called the police. The conversation with the dispatcher made it clear that it was quite normal. 

The Dispatcher asked why do you need to speak with an officer? To which the caller replied “I had an officer out here yesterday because my daughter refused to go to school. She skipped school yesterday and she skipped school today.”

A spokesman at the Elkhart Police Department said the callus very normal. . In fact, this was the second call they were receiving on the same day, about a child refusing to go to school.

This shows that you can call the police if your child refuses to go to school. 

But does this help? How does calling the police help when your child refuses to go to school? 

 A Sioux Falls police spokesman Sam Clemens explains what the deal is.

He says “Quite oftentimes the officers will tell the kid to go to school and that’s about it. “The officers explain to the parents it’s their responsibility to make sure the child goes to school,” Clemens says. 

It was also known that missing one day of school usually does not constitute charges. “However we’ve generally been filing on kids that have skipped 30 days or more,” McGowan continued. 

Reasons You Shouldn’t Call the Police when your child refuses to go to school. 

 Calling the police because your child refuses to go to school sounds petty right? Even though many patterns call the police when their child refuses to go to school, here are a few reasons why you should not call the police when your child refuses to go to school. 

It Shows You Can’t Handle the Situation 

Calling the police fortifies that you don’t have any powerful approaches to train your kid at home. It likewise shows that you need the police to fill in as your spine. Kids need to feel sure that you can monitor the circumstance—in any event, when they can’t control themselves. Going to the police may make your kid lose regard for your position. The kid may begin to believe that my folks can’t do anything all alone.

Your Child Might Not Learn a Lesson

On the off chance that you call the police about a gentle offense, similar to when your child refuses to go to school, the police will do nothing past converse with your kid. Police generally give kids an admonition or instruct them to “behave,” yet there is little else they can do. Also, accepting an admonition can reverse discharge. Kids some of the time presume that having the police considered is certifiably not a serious deal since nothing happened to them. They begin to underestimate things.

Scare Tactics Don’t Create Lasting Change

Alarm strategies will in general be successful for the time being yet lose viability after some time. children may change their conduct for a couple of days—or even half a month—following police intervention. As dread dies down, old personal conduct standards are probably going to return. So as opposed to finding a momentary arrangement when your youngster will not go to class search for a more successful arrangement.

It Prevents the Police From Doing Their Job

Keep in mind, your community police power has numerous other significant assignments. The function of a cop is to protect the network. Calling the police to your home to chasten your kid since they refuse to go to the school keeps them from managing their responsibility.

The Outcome Might Be Out of Your Hands

At the point when you call the police, you might not have power over how they react. Their reaction will rely upon your youngster’s age and the seriousness of the issue. Regardless of whether your state you don’t need your youngster accused of wrongdoing, you might not have a decision. Some of the time state laws direct that charges be documented after you settle on the telephone decision. From that point, the court framework has power over what befalls your kid, not you.

It Could Change Your Relationship

Reaching the police when your child refuses to go to school is probably going to negatively affect your relationship, particularly if the circumstance was not hazardous or dangerous. Your child may feel a profound feeling of treachery and may lose trust in you. A harmed relationship with your kid can prompt expanded social difficulties. Instead of reasoning that you’re there to help them, your kid may expect that you’re out to get them.

Police Don’t Provide Treatment

If your child’s behavior is severe enough that you’re considering calling the police, seek professional help. It may be possible that your child is dealing with a behavior disorder, a mental health condition, or might simply need a different approach to discipline.

How to respond when your child refuses to go to school? 

The above section of the guide highlights the fact that calling the police when your child refuses to go to school may be possible, but it is not the ideal reaction. There may be many underlying consequences to it.

Below is a list of things you can do instead of calling the police when your child refuses to go to school. 

Identify the problem

The most important thing to do if your child refuses to go to school is to identify the underlying problem. Is it an outstanding burden, peer pressure, or your child’s method of adapting? Take a gander at your youngster’s circumstance intently. Does he require more rest? Is there a social issue?

Most kids who refuse to go to school fall into one or more of these four categories:

• Bullying: Kids who are bullied or those who have trouble getting along with peers.
• Academics: Kids who struggle academically, who are bored, or for whom schoolwork has become a very negative experience.
• Behavior: Kids who have problems with authority and following the rules.
• Anxiety: Kids who have trouble coping with anxiety. This includes separation anxiety (usually in younger kids) and anxiety about tests, peers, and even about what’s happening at home

Ask for help

Do not hesitate to go to a mental helath professional, When a child refuses to go to school regularly, parents should go to a mental health professional instead of the police. A therapist will have contact with parents, the school, and the child to understand the situation and come up with a plan. Usually, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is used to manage the underlying anxiety problem.  

Take a kind but firm approach

It’s critical to pass on the kindness, as your youngster is encountering something troubling. Consideration can be passed on by listening when they talk about their concerns, offering a snapshot of actual friendship, or trying to avoid panicking despite dissatisfaction. Urge them to confront their feelings of dread. Be caring, however firm enough to make them return to class.

Contact the school 

Once you have heard about what worries your child, tell the school what your child is dealing with. Keeping the school in the loop will help the situation get better. For example, if your child is bullied, the principal may take the necessary actions against it and make it a better environment to study. 

Set clear routines on days off school

If you find your child at home on school days, set up a home routine similar to school:

• get up and dressed by school time
• limit access to TV and the internet during school hours
• encourage the child to complete their school work
• limit one-on-one time with the parent until after school hours
• reduce activities out of the home, such as shopping.

School refusal goes past an incidental “I hate school” or “I would prefer not to go to class today.”School refusal regularly comes from a tension issue. The fundamental condition might be social fear (tension brought about by social circumstances or acting before a gathering), summed up nervousness issue (over the top stress and uneasiness over an assortment of things), or division tension (dread of being ceaselessly from a parent). In this manner calling the police will truly not assistance your case.

How the police react to your call when your child refuses to go to school 

David Cimperman Jr. says, “You can. But I can tell you as a 30-year cop. We absolutely hate when parents who are unable to handle simple everyday problems, call us to raise their kids. Sounds brutal. But it’s a fact. Your inability to raise a child always turns into a problem for law enforcement.”

It is not easy for the police to handle the daily office work and also attend to your kids when they refuse to go to school. 

As parents, it is your responsibility to keep your children under check. Even though you can call the police if your child refuses to go to school, the question is, should you? What does it tell about you? Is it worth calling the police for such a petty problem? 

Dealing with kids is not an easy task, agreed. They can be quite draining, but it is very important to maintain the right relationship with them. 

BetterHelp: A Better Alternative

Those who are seeking therapy online may also be interested in BetterHelp. BetterHelp offers plenty of formats of therapy, ranging from live chats, live audio sessions and live video sessions. In addition, unlimited messaging through texting, audio messages and even video messages are available here.

BetterHelp also offers couples therapy and therapy for teenagers in its platform. Furthermore, group sessions can also be found in this platform, covering more than twenty different topics related to mental health and mental illness. The pricing of BetterHelp is also pretty cost-effective, especially considering the fact that the platform offers financial aid to most users.

Conclusion 

In this blog post, we have tried  to answer the question ‘Can I call the police if my child refuses to go to school?’ The blog guide also looked at reasons not to call the police if your child refuses to go to school and how to deal with your child who refuses to go to school. 

FAQs: Can I call the police if my child refuses to go to school?

References 

https://www.verywellfamily.com/reasons-calling-the-police-on-your-child-wont-work-1094764

https://scoop.upworthy.com/parent-can-i-call-police-if-child-refuses-to-go-to-school

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/what-to-do-when-your-child-refuses-to-go-to-school-201109083245