If you demand 100% attendance immediately, you’ll get 0%. Start with a walk to the bus stop. Then a drive-by. Small wins build the "courage muscle."

If you are living your own version of "30 Days With My School-Refusing Sister," here is what this month has taught me:

The final third of this journey was the most delicate. The goal wasn't just to get her back into a building; it was to rebuild her self-image as someone who could handle the world.

This 30-day journey didn't "cure" her anxiety, but it changed our trajectory. School refusal is rarely about the school itself; it’s about a child’s internal world feeling too heavy to carry into a public space.