According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, at least one in five school-aged children has a mental health condition. Emotional, psychological, and behavioral issues can interfere with a child’s academic performance and can cause children to perform negatively in school. If your child suffers from a mental health condition, you may believe that the best choice to take for them would be to transition to homeschooling. Although this may seem like the right decision, there are situations where homeschooling can be more harmful and can create a more restrictive environment for children.
The Drawbacks of Homeschooling
Home instruction is not always the answer for children suffering with mental health issues. It is evident that homeschooling can eliminate the stress of public school for most children, however, that is only a temporary fix. In fact, avoiding the stress that comes with attending school and being surrounded by others can negatively impact your child because they will not be able to develop the coping skills they need to handle stress later in life. Also, home instruction can prevent much-needed social interaction children need to thrive. In order for home instruction to be effective, it has to meet the child’s educational needs while dealing with their mental health issues. In most cases, parents are not able to fulfill both educational requirements and help their children with their mental illness. Another important thing to mention is that children who are homeschooled lose access to the extracurricular activities and school facilities that help boost their learning experience
Seek Professional Help
If you are considering home instruction for your child, please note that there are other options that could be more beneficial for your child such as therapeutic education. Therapeutic schools integrate classroom instructions with therapeutic services to help your child succeed in school. Not only do therapeutic schools provide academic learning, they also provide life, social, and coping skills that students will need to be successful later in life.
New Alliance Academy provides educational and ancillary therapeutic services for high school teenagers experiencing acute psychological distress.