missue asks: I have a 6-year-old kid. He had this weird habit of crying in school when he was in kindergarten, but I thought he would get used to school when he was in grade one. But then things got worse than ever! Now he doesn’t want to go to school at all! What should I do? I’ve tried everything to convince him to go but still I can’t.
Hi Missue –
I relate completely to your kid. Any time Handsome drops me off anywhere, I don’t like it. I don’t mind any of the places he takes me, but I hate being left by him. I’m always afraid I’m going back to the pound where he first found me, and that’s really scary!
But you’re right to be concerned. People usually get over what’s called Separation Anxiety by your son’s age. Although, you’d be surprised at how normal it is, even at this point.
If your son is able to express what scares him, the best thing is to get him to do so. Is he afraid you don’t care about him, or won’t come back for him? Is he afraid of a teacher or some other kids? Or is he just a kid who doesn’t like change, and wants things to stay the same as they used to be?
All of these are perfectly acceptable emotions, of course. And if he’s aware of the reason, all of these are things that can be dealt with fairly easily.
But if he doesn’t know what’s wrong, then he really needs some help getting through this transition. If you can get a good child therapist, they’re all trained in working with this issue. Even simple things like drawing or painting or playing with them can help him to move through this block. After all, what he really wants is to be happy. And if he can be happy at school, then that’s best for everyone.
But whatever you do, don’t ever let the school take your kid down to the city pound and put him in a cage. I can promise you, once that happens, he’ll never trust them again!
Cheers,
Shirelle