How Do You Spot Someone Who Is Faking An Illness To Get Out Of School?
• Look for lingering symptoms. If someone has been “ill,” one would expect them to still have residual symptoms when they return to school/work. Someone who re-emerges after an “illness” looking and acting normal was probably faking it. • Check their work. A child or teen who has missed school due to a real illness will have done homework that was due in on the day they missed, and may be keen to hand in their homework at the first opportunity, to prove they weren’t faking. So if someone returns from an “illness” still not having completed homework, they were probably faking it. Keep in mind that if a child was not faking, it’s possible they were not feeling well enough to do their homework. • Make the call. If you suspect someone has been faking, don’t be afraid to phone up their parents to check. Ring them at work during the day. If you ring in the evening, you can’t be sure that it’s not an older brother or sister, or the faker themselves. • Retain old letters or sick notes. Compare
