High School Dropouts In The United States

Teenagers dropping out of high school is a growing problem for citizens in the United States. High school dropout rates have progressively gotten worse because of a student’s lack of work and problems at home. Although the United States’ teen dropout rate is slowly declining as a whole, it is still leading to many other problems. I recently watched a report on the news, which mentioned that the U.S. is still towards the bottom of the education count throughout many countries. This report makes me wonder what the future will bring us. Will the unemployed over power the employed? Will our taxes continue to increase to pay for unemployment policies? How do kids that drop out of school early prosper in our society? I’ve also learned about teen
According to the article, “The True Cost of High School Dropouts,” by Henry M. Levin and Cecilia E. Rouse, published on January 25, 2012, “studies show that the typical high school graduate will obtain higher employment and earnings - an astonishing 50 percent to 100 percent increase in lifetime income.” (nytimes.com) This portion of the article identifies how successful a school graduate tends to be in the work industry. The article tells of how much non-graduates will cost the public and even themselves. It makes the public aware of the dent that dropouts are putting in their wallets. The United States is currently experiencing a high unemployment rate, which is due to the low rate of completion of school. Young adults will face hardship as they move through their lives. They will have to pay bills that a regular citizen also faces, but it is proven that they will have a tougher time coming up with the money to do so. Later, the article mentions that “because of the increased income, the typical graduate will contribute more in tax revenues over his lifetime than if he’d dropped out.” (nytimes.com) This quote again shows that graduates are a necessity in our generation. This also shows that the public will have less worries with graduates rather than non-graduates. The overall taxes that Americans pay for unemployment will stop increasing
For example, the article, “Cause and Effect: The High Cost of High School Dropouts,” by Matthew Lynch, published on November 30, 2014, states that “over 80 percent of the incarcerated population is high school dropouts.” (huffingtonpost.com) This quote shows the people of America that school dropouts are a threat to watch out for. It is proven that out of most Americans, the majority that are thrown in prison never completed high school. We meet dropouts in our daily lives, whether it is at a restaurant or even a grocery store. Our society is being unprotected from the harmful citizens, yet they continue to pay for the high costs of imprisonment. Yet again, this seems to show us how an education is a huge factor in our lives. Teen dropouts that end up in prison also lead to the increase of prisoners in the U.S., which is another current social issue. Society now has to fear that the dropouts around us will harm us or others. A majority of dropouts also face mental illnesses, which means that a lot of non-graduates end up in need of help. So, not only does dropping out of high school lead to imprisonment, but it also is proven that more students will get sick. This article does a great job enforcing the social problems that teen dropouts allow to occur by including useful information and