This series is brought to you by Whirlpool, a brand that's been committed to help in the cycle of chronic absenteeism in schools for nearly a decade.

Think back to what it was like when you were in school. You're all sitting in the same classroom.

You're sitting together at lunch, recess, or gym class. There's all this close contact through the day. It's just this constant environment where

you're around other kids. So for a kid to come to school and not have clean clothes

they're embarrassed and it will happen. Kids will tease. Some kids

will bully. The net result is just a terrible place to be. Why would I want to come to school? Because you really have to

think about that social aspect of school. Welcome back to Breaking the

Cycle, a special three-part series where we're exploring the complex issue of chronic

absenteeism in schools. I'm your host clinical psychologist and parent educator

Dr. Jasmine McCoy. Today we're talking about how chronic absenteeism can affect a student's

social emotional learning experience in mental health and the signs you should

look for in your own child. Throughout my training and research as a clinical psychologist, I've had the opportunity

to counsel children in so many different capacities. I've worked with preschoolers who were in a program

for low-income families called Head Start.

I've counseled teens detained inside juvenile justice

centers.

And I've researched attachment and trauma

and former foster youth and their young children.

I'll never forget how much these young mothers had to go through

just to be able to participate.

From finding transportation to making sure their children

had enough clean clothes and food, it's easy to take having all of our basic

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