High School Dropouts

High School Drop-outs

Dropping out of high school is an issue faced by too many teens today. It comes from a few common causes. The first reason kids drop out is often a lack of involvement in extra-curricular activities. Another reason kids drop out revolves around the parents not being forceful in demanding that their children commit to staying in school. A third reason kids drop out is the lack of effort shown by students in their classes.

Teenagers lose interest in school way too easy and way too often. When students are not successful with their studies there morale and desire fall in their commitment to school. When they feel negatively about school they generally are less interested in extra-curricular activities (Weiss). Being involved in school can be the difference in passing your classes or failing your classes. It is not just the child's job to get involved in school it is also the parent's job. Parents need to help there child get involved in clubs, sports, Etc. Parents also need to be involved in PTA and what other parental activities.

Parents must force upon their children the importance of staying in school and that dropping-out is drastic change to their future. Sometimes teens drop-out because there is no fear instilled into them by their parents (Weiss). Many teens have no parental supervision. So many teenagers and parents have a lack of communication skills between them. This lack of communication can result in lack of involvement in school. Parents are a very essential key in how far their child's education will go.

Here are some of the figures that must be brought to attention if anything about is ever going to be done about this problem.

Five out of every 100 young adults enrolled in high school in October 1999 left school before October 2000 without successfully completing a high school program. The percentage of young adults who left school each year without successfully completing a high school program decreased from 1972 through 1987. Despite year-to-year fluctuations, the percentage of students dropping out of school each year has stayed relatively unchanged since 1987. (Government Statistics)

These statistics show just how students are not being encouraged to stay in school as you can see the figures have remained the same from 1987 to present-day.

Another reason kids in high school are dropping out is due to failing grades. The simple truth is that students today are failing there core subjects. Failing grades can be caused by a number of things. Lack of interest in a certain subject is one of the main causes of failing grades. It is not only the teacher's job to get the student interested in their class but it is also there parents, by working with them at home.

The government spends about $45 million dollars collecting data on student achievement but just $1 million gathering information on dropouts. The best way to really find out what's going on is to begin gathering information on individual students. The more we know about the students the better we will be prepared to deal with it. When students come to this decision to stick with school or to dropout it is the job of our society to intervene. This question not only should be dealt with delicately it should also be thought about and decided on with great care and attention. Sometimes students feel it is just easier for them and everyone around them if they would just give up and dropout. When in actuality our society knows that the only was to handle this is by telling the child of our previous experience.

Now to prevention, we as a society and a country highly dedicated and devoted to having a promising future depend on the future of our youth. Under the No Child Left behind Act, Congress allowed $125 million for a national dropout prevention program. The program has given grants to educational programs since 2001. Efforts such as child development, reducing class size, and tutoring for students at risk have shown to be productive. One example of the strategies in use are those of the Minnesota Department of Education. A 2005 FY grant receiver, which plans to:

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