Please do not overlook this call for help!

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.