School refusal is defined as when a child becomes extremely upset at the prospect of going to school and misses part or all of the school day as a result. About 20 percent of children display behaviors indicative of school refusal at some point during their educational career, according to some estimates. School refusal is not a formal psychiatric diagnosis in the traditional sense. It is a term used to describe an emotional and/or behavioral problem.

Many parents of teenagers will simply allow their child to miss school rather than discipline him or her. Some other parents have become exhausted by their child and have decided to give up on their child entirely. School refusal is defined as when a child becomes extremely upset at the prospect of going to school and misses part or all of the school day as a result of his or her decision. In most cases, children who refuse to attend school spend the day at home, with their parents' knowledge, even though their parents try to persuade them to go to school.