No More Pizza Parties! The Real Way School Counselors Can Fix Attendance

Students refusing school isn’t new... but what’s happening now is different.

Across the country, nearly one in three students is missing ten percent or more of the school year.

And while everyone’s blaming “attendance apathy” or “bad parenting,” the truth is a lot more complicated.

In this episode, I talk about what school refusal really is- and what it’s not.
You’ll learn the four hidden drivers behind school avoidance, how to spot them, and exactly what school counselors can do (without becoming the attendance police).

We’ll also talk about the conversations no one wants to have, like what to do when it’s the parent keeping the student home, or when a student says flat-out, “I just don’t want to go.”

This isn’t another pep talk about attendance incentives.

It’s a grounded, evidence-based roadmap for helping kids come back to school- and want to stay there.

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⭐️ Want support with real-world strategies that actually work on your campus? We’re doing that every day in the School for School Counselors Mastermind. Come join us!  As mentioned in the episode, use code OCTOBER 25 for a limited time.⭐️

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Where to go next, depending on what you need today...

NEW → Grab my free ​Secret Series for School Counselors​- Six short stories about what no one’s willing to say in school counseling

Listen to more of the​ School for School Counselors Podcast​- Real talk and honest insights for school counselors tired of pretending it’s all fine

​Join the School for School Counselors Mastermind​- The professional home for school counselors who love the job… and want to keep their sanity

This work is part of the School for School Counselors body of work developed by Steph Johnson, LPC, CSC, which centers role authority over role drift, consultative practice over fix-it culture, adult-designed systems and environments as primary drivers of student behavior, clinical judgment over compliance, and school counselor identity as leadership within complex systems.