I found your report on the 14-year-old boy who would not go to school quite disturbing (Oxford Mail, May 18).

We are given a little of the parents' background, but nothing at all about how the boy feels or why he is so reluctant to attend school.

If he has to be held down and forced to go to school, then something is seriously wrong and the intervention of the courts and 'strong arm' tactics can only aggravate the situation for the boy and his parents.

I had a similar problem for a while when at school in the 1950s and1960s, but I was treated far more sensitively with the help of child psychologists and a child guidance clinic.

This was due to what was later diagnosed as 'school phobia' which is not a term invented by psychologists for convenience but a real situation. It is often a symptom of other problems such as bullying, teasing (by classmates and teachers) or just poor social interaction.

Whatever the cause, the boy and his parents should be given help, not have things made even worse by court appearances. DAVID BOOR

Glebelands, Headington, Oxford