With schools there are a limited amount of days your child can take off before they fall below standard attendance rates. If they miss days they're expected to get a doctors certificate. With mental days there is no doctors certificate and I've never understood the whole certificate situation. You're taking days off because you're unwell or can't function. This includes making appointments and having to get up and get dressed to go and see a doctor who will tell you what you already know.
With corona virus happening I withdrew my children from school a week before the school holidays started. Up til then they'd only had two days off, one of which was a mental day for each of them (separate days for each), and one where they were both unwell.
I received a notice saying they'd fallen below attendance rate and risked failing on account of this. That was seven days absent in term one meaning a potential fail! Imagine if they needed more mental days.
Still I persist with mental days because sometimes we need them and that's all there is to it.
One morning one child woke up and was in hysterics and unable to function mentally, let alone go to school and deal with others. Another morning another child woke up shattered, mentally exhausted, the feeling of going to school felt overwhelming.
In both cases I let them have the day off, go back to bed, sleep in, relax their mind and body. They needed it.
It is time we start to see mental days as a necessary part of school and employment. All people have days where they can't function and this should be taken into consideration.
What do you think? Have you ever given your child a mental day?
