Thornburgh, N. (17 April 2006). "Dropout Nation: The number of high school students who leave before graduating is higher-much higher-than you think. Inside one town's struggle to reverse the tide." Time, pp.30.


OVERVIEW

Adults need to take an initiative to curb today's astonishing dropout rate: nearly 1 in 3 public high school students will fail to graduate. Put another way, the percentage for kids who start elementary and finish high school is only 64% to 71%. Schools try to cover this up by swaying numbers or counting dropouts who say they will later get their GED as high school graduates. Also students who come from lower income families have six times the chance of dropping out as those from higher income families. According to a Gates Foundation survey, 88% of students claimed the cause for dropping out was more from "boredom than struggles with course work."

Work for today's dropouts is also much harder to find. Almost half of dropouts ages 16 to 24 are unemployed. Many dropouts work at fast food restaurants, lucky if they make enough to get by; unlike thirty years ago when dropouts could easily find labor paying upwards to what would be $60,000 a year today. The largest problem is that many employers are looking for at least high school graduates to do menial jobs. Knauf president Bob Claxton says a diploma, versus a GED, shows that the applicants took the initiative to get through school, probably working with people they didn't get along with.

Many dropouts who went into the workforce like Sarah Miller say, "It would have been nice to have someone pushing me to stay. Who knows how things would have turned out?" Parents, youth leaders, and other adults are thus needed to positively reinforce today's youth and schools. Many Americans agree that the dropout rate is a problem, that too little money is being spent on public schools and that they would be willing to pay more taxes to fix this problem. However, without some direct action from these very Americans, nothing is going to change.


QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION & DISCUSSION

1. How can you help motivate kids to stay in school?
2. Can you think of a specific youth you could talk to about staying in school or going back to school?
3. How would you rate today's school system? Is it passing or failing students? Why?
4. Why are schools covering up the fact that graduation rates are down? How do you feel about it?
5. Should schools focus more on the lower income students or the higher? Why?

IMPLICATIONS

1. Adults need to be aware of kids who struggle with reading and writing at a young age. If troubles in school start at a young age and are never corrected, kids have a higher chance of leaving high schools. Programs need to be started at the elementary levels to help kids in their studies.
2. Students who are repeatedly skipping classes are at higher risk of leaving schools. Therefore schools need to be aware of attendance and participation of all their students.
3. Students need to see a connection between school and the future. Vocational learning or other learning environments can help students see a connection, while allowing them to learn a specific trade or skill.
4. School is a long journey and without parents, youth leaders, and educators reinforcing students' educational decisions, they will have a harder time finishing that journey.

Krista Dietz cCYS