If your child is suddenly complaining about not wanting to go to school, don’t just brush him aside and tell him that he has to go. Yes, of course he does have to go; however, if his complaints have come on all of a sudden, chances are something is going on at school that is causing him to dread going. You need to find out what this is so that you can help. If your child will not talk about why he doesn’t want to go to school, try talking to his teacher.

There are several things that could be causing your child to be worried about going to school. First of all, he could be having a problem with a bully. Perhaps someone is teasing him or harassing him between classes or during recess.

Or, your child’s school worries could be caused by test anxiety. Maybe he has a test coming up and he is fearful of doing poorly on the exam. Similarly, he could be scared about some other classroom-related activity. Perhaps he is supposed to give a speech to his class for the first time ever, and he is really nervous. Also, it could be possible that he is having trouble understanding regular classroom assignments and is falling behind in class.

Maybe your child had a fight with a friend and he doesn’t know how to fix the issue. He could be worried about seeing that friend at school because he won’t know how to act.

In order to help your child, simply sitting down and talking about the situation may be a good solution. Some kids may benefit from seeing a counselor as well. If schoolwork is an issue, finding a tutor could help, perhaps. In some cases, your child might not need any help—the problem could fix itself. But, every parent should try to figure out if they can help. School complaints should not be ignored.