31/08/2025
Why the Government’s Focus on “Behaviour and Attendance” Misses the Real Crisis
The latest government announcement, warning parents to “do more” to improve their children’s behaviour and attendance, is not only insulting- it’s dangerously misguided.
Department for Education as well today spouting more harmful propaganda as well!
They can F off as well!
It frames children as the problem, parents as failures, and attendance figures as the ultimate goal.
But the truth is far more uncomfortable: it’s the education system itself that is failing thousands of children and causing lasting harm.
1. Behaviour is Not the Problem — It’s the Symptom
When children display challenging behaviour, it is almost always a sign of unmet need. Whether it’s undiagnosed SEND, trauma, bullying, mental health struggles, or poverty, behaviour is a form of communication. To punish or shame families for this is to ignore the root causes.
Instead of tackling the conditions that create distress, the government is scapegoating parents and children.
2. Attendance Does Not Equal Success
High attendance figures do not prove that children are thriving. Many children force themselves into school while deeply dysregulated, anxious, or unsupported. Others are unable to attend because school has become unsafe or unmanageable for them. The pressure to “fix attendance” risks retraumatising children, pushing families into conflict, and worsening mental health crises. Real success is not about bums on seats- it’s about whether children feel safe, supported, and able to learn.
3. Schools Are Underfunded and Overstretched
Teachers are being left with impossible workloads, huge class sizes, and no resources to properly meet the needs of pupils. Specialist support is almost non-existent, waiting lists for assessments are years long, and SEND provision is chronically underfunded.
Instead of addressing these systemic failures, the government is doubling down on discipline and compliance, while ignoring the reasons so many children are struggling in the first place.
4. Systemic Failures are Causing Harm
Record numbers of suspensions and exclusions prove the point: children are being pushed out of education because schools cannot or will not meet their needs. These are not “naughty kids.” They are vulnerable young people being failed by a rigid system that prioritises statistics over human lives. Every exclusion, every forced absence, every meltdown in a classroom is a red flag that the system is not working.
5. Parents Are Not the Enemy
The narrative that parents must “do more” is deeply unfair. Families are already fighting uphill battles for diagnoses, reasonable adjustments, and mental health support. Many are exhausted from advocating for their children in a system that constantly dismisses them. Blaming parents only shifts responsibility away from government failures and silences those who know their children best.
The Real Solution
If the government is serious about improving outcomes for children, it must:
• Fund schools properly so they can provide pastoral and specialist support.
• Shorten waiting times for assessments and mental health services.
• Train staff to understand trauma, SEND, and neurodiversity.
• Redesign the system so that education is flexible, inclusive, and centred on wellbeing — not just attendance targets.
Until then, policies that fixate on “behaviour and attendance” are nothing more than political theatre.
The problem isn’t children refusing to fit the system.
The problem is a system that refuses to fit children, it’s damaging and causing children to be absent more and more from education they so desperately want to have access to!
Do better
Cos I’m so done with listing to your sh*t.💩
Michaela 🙌🏼
