Please do not overlook this call for help!
A really difficult topic today - but one that has been taking up more and more space in paediatric practices in recent years. And that's why it's important to discuss it here: It's about truancy.
Absenteeism means that a child or young person is absent from school - excused or unexcused. Or is outwardly present in an attenuated form - but in inner emigration, so that the lessons pass him or her by completely.
It is clear that when such behaviour occurs, it is a cry for help. Then the child has no other solution strategy for any worries and fears than to react with this behaviour. And that is why it is extremely important that parents, school and paediatrician network at an early stage in cases of truancy. Because intervention must be swift. The longer such truancy persists, the more you run the risk of it becoming chronic. And then the prognosis for further development and life is really bad.
The problem is that parents often don't even realise this. Some don't even realise that their child is not going to school. Or parents indirectly support this by often giving the child excuses for missed days. It is therefore very important that the school reacts quickly when children are conspicuously absent (unexcused).
It is then up to the school to quickly seek dialogue with the parents - and they should then consult their paediatrician just as quickly. Solutions can and must then be sought together. The questions are then: How can we help the child - and possibly also the family system?
The main message therefore goes to parents AND school representatives: If absences increase conspicuously - please don't ignore them. Instead, recognise the problem and look for solutions together with us doctors. Which is not always easy.
Further interesting tips
Blood in the stool
We are starting the new year with a not so appetising topic: blood in the stool. It happens once a week in our day-to-day practice that we receive a very excited phone call or a somewhat panicked email saying: "Oh God, my child has blood in their stool." In most cases, the excitement is unnecessary.
Tantrums II
It turns the sweetest child into a bully: the tantrum. How to recognise whether tantrums are a cause for concern or simply a minor evil:
Lice
First things first: I know of almost no family with children, including my own, who have not had a visit from these little creatures. Head lice infestations have nothing to do with a lack of hygiene. Lice don't care whether they crawl on freshly washed hair or walk over an unkempt head - they take what they get.