One of the hardest parts of school refusal isn’t just the mornings. It’s how alone families often feel inside them. In social work and family systems research, we know that when a child is anxious about school, the pressure often lands on the parent. Parents are expected to manage big emotions, make constant decisions, and keep things going - even when their own nervous system is overwhelmed. From the outside, it can look like a school problem. Inside the family, it becomes a whole-life stress - affecting sleep, health, relationships, and confidence. This is why “just make them go” so often makes things worse. An anxious nervous system doesn’t respond to force or logic. It responds to safety, connection, and time. I know this both through my university studies in mental health and through living it personally. My own child missed over 100 days of school in one year. We tried the usual advice - and things escalated. What helped wasn’t pushing harder. It was understanding what...