School Refusal - Education Alternatives
School Attendance in Ireland and the alternatives for early school leavers and children refusing to attend school.
(thanks to Parentline volunteer Eilish Cattanach for compilation the information for this article)
In Ireland, the law states that children must attend education between the age of 6 and 16, or until students have completed 3 years of second-level education, whichever is the later. Tusla (the child and family agency) has a responsibility to ensure that children attend school regularly, or otherwise receives an appropriate minimum education. Tusla's emphasis is on helping schools, families and children, rather than imposing penalties for non-attendance at school. Tusla employs educational welfare officers at local level throughout the country to provide support and advice to parents and schools and to follow up on absences from school.
Parentline calls 2024
2024 was a record year for Parentline in relation to the numbers of helpline calls received. There were 6,461 calls handled by the Parentline volunteers which is the highest number since the charity was established 43 years ago.
Another record figure for 2024 was the numbers of dads who called Parentline with almost one in three calls coming from fathers. This is up from 24% in 2023 and is made more remarkable by the fact that for many years it was only the odd call to Parentline that was made by a dad. Once again, the biggest area of concern for callers to Parentline was anger, aggression and other abuse behaviours being displayed to parents by their own children. This accounts for one third of all calls to Parentline. This is often referred to as child to parent violence and it makes parents fearful of their own child in their own homes. Parentline has specific programmes to help with this issue and to support parents who are in this situation. The other major issue for parents calling Parentline in 2024 was anxiety with this accounting for 13% of all calls and when taken with school refusal this increases to this area of concern being one in every five calls. Parentline has volunteers trained in the areas of anxiety and school refusal and programmes to help parents to deal with these issues. Other big issues were loneliness and isolation, eating disorders, bullying, social media, exposure to pornography and internet use and one of the new growth areas was vaping which is a huge worry to many parents with more and younger children purchasing and using vapes. Thanks so much to the 60 volunteers who work with Parentline and give so much time and commitment and energy into supporting parents all over Ireland with information and guidance on any and all parenting issues in relation to children of any and all ages. Parentline could not operate without these wonderful volunteers and is so very grateful for their kindness and generosity to the service.” Aileen Hickie, CEO ParentlineFathers Calling Parentline
Almost one third of all calls to Parentline now comes from a dad
When Parentline was first set up almost 100% of the calls came from mothers. In the first year of operation Parentline received one call from a father. In the intervening years the number of fathers calling the helpline is increasing all the time. Calls from fathers now represent approx. 32.5% of calls.
The content of calls from fathers has also changed. 20 years ago fathers used to ask ‘how they could support their wife with her parenting.’ The calls from fathers now show they are playing a much more active role in parenting and there is no difference between the parenting issues raised by men and women.
Dr Lee Devaney, Psychologist specialising in Men’s Psychology talks on the importance of men reflecting and talking about their issues
Dr Lee Devaney underlines that parenting as a dad is different to parenting as a mother
Dr Lee Devaney stresses the importance of ringing Parentline as a first step, for any dads who are having difficulties in being a parent
Anxiety
All adults and children feel anxious and worried at times. Anxiety is a normal and natural occurrence. It’s part of life.
It can’t be allowed to become overwhelming or defining. Children can experience anxiety about different issues at different stages of their lives. For the most part, this is just one more element of growing up.
Sleep Matters
The importance of sleep for Parents and Children
Sleep is crucial for children's growth, brain development, and emotional regulation. Quality sleep significantly impacts cognitive development, emotional well-being, and physical growth. Furthermore, children's sleep directly influences parents' mental health, stress levels, and productivity. Improved sleep in children leads to better mental health for parents.
The below two guides are free (courtesy of CulaBaby) so please just click on the links:
Parentline has given support, information and guidance to over 150,000 over the past 40 years
Parentline News
Calls on the issue of children accessing pornography emerged as an increasing concern for parents calling Parentline in 2024 as did calls on social media and the associated dangers for children accessing these platforms while vaping remains a significant issue for parents across Ireland, findings from Parentline show
- Findings from Parentline’s 2024 Report highlight anger and aggression as remaining the leading, stand out concern from parents ringing the helpline. Calls on this area increased to 35% of all calls.
- Other notable trends, in addition to the continuation of vaping as a concern for parents, include the increase in calls on issues such as children accessing pornography and social media concern.
- Almost one third (32.5%) of all calls to Parentline in 2024 were from male callers. This was an increase from 23.7% in 2023.
- Calls related to childhood anxiety rose significantly from 9% to 13% of all calls with calls on school refusal accounted for 8% of all calls made to the helpline last year.
There is no typical call
Parents call with all sorts of problems and children of all ages offer different parenting challenges. Anxiety, anger, aggression, isolation and loneliness, bullying, discipline, frustration, school refusal, drugs, teenage issues and verbal and emotional abuse are just some of the main reasons for the calls we receive daily. What all our callers have in common is that they are seeking help, support and guidance. The vast majority of our callers are overwhelmingly satisfied with the service offered and the assistance received.
COMMON AREAS
Postnatal Depression
Parentline is the only national helpline, that offers support to new mothers suffering with the baby blues or postnatal depression, in confidence and over the phone. This means that a new mother does not have to get organised to leave the comfort of her own home if she needs support. Very often a depressed mother finds it very difficult to get dressed not to mind to leave her own house. Parentline offers a support service in her own home.
COMMON AREAS
Non Violent Resistance (NVR)
Non Violent Resistance is an evidence-based, non-blaming and relatively short-term intervention model that empowers parents and people working with them to take positive action to end the abusive and/or violent behaviour of a child.
In association with What Works.
SCHOOL TRANSITIONS
School life and the difficulties encountered by students (and parents) at the various stages of their educational journey.
6,000+
Calls per year
From people experiencing difficulties
43 years
Years Helping People
43 years of being there for parents (this year)
1
Objective
To give you the best possible support for your situation.