School Symptoms Exhibited by High Risk Students

A high-risk student is usually a student that is experiencing possibly severe emotional, social, environmental or academic stress. As a result of this intense turmoil, many symptoms are generated in a dynamic attempt to alleviate the anxiety. They can show up in many different behavior patterns. This Parent Conference Teacher Handout will provide parents with examples of behavioral patterns that may be indicative of more serious issues.

Some of the more common ones that can be exhibited by either elementary or secondary students while in school are:

• A history of adequate or high first quarter grades followed by a downward trend leading to failures in the final quarter.
• A history of excessive absences.
• A history of excessive lateness.
• Frequently cannot separate from parent at the start of the school day. While this can be normal behavior in very young children, it becomes a more serious symptom after age 6 or 7.
• High achievement scores and high school abilities index with a history of low academic performance.
• Consistent failure in two or more quarters of at least two subjects.
• A history of parent “coverage” for inappropriate behavior, poor work performance, poor attitude, failures, or absences.
• Students wandering the halls after school with no direction or purpose.
• A history of constant projection onto others as a reason for a lack of performance, handing in work, failures, or cutting.
• A history of feeling powerless in the student’s approach to problems.
• Recent stress related experiences i.e. divorce, separation, death of a parent or parent’s loss of employment.
• A history of constant visits to the nurse.
• Social withdrawal from peers with an emphasis on developing relationships with adults.

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