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Abstract
In a “classic” case of school phobia the child is not primarily afraid to go to school but is afraid to leave home, unconsciously fearing that her mother will be injured or will die in her absence. The potential injuring agent is the child herself. “Magical thinking” is normal in childhood and means that if one wishes something to happen it will happen. Because of a strong resentment toward her mother and because she has wished her “not here” (in the child's mind, the same as wishing her dead), the best way to allay the anxiety engendered by her unconscious destructive impulses is for the child to stay as close to the mother as possible.