Highschool Dropouts

Vanessa Siegning
Professor Dutterer
EGL 1010
March 19, 2013 High School Dropouts
Going to school has always been seen as one of the most important occupations in our life. All categories of ages can go to school; kids, young people and even adults. School is defined as a place where people get an education. By going to school, people can acquire knowledge and skill that are not only important for the society but also for them. However, getting out of the educative system has become a big phenonem nowadays. It mostly affects students from high school. They usually get out of school without earning at least a High School Diploma. Isn’t too early for those young students to drop out of school? The answer is that sometimes, they have problems that make them get out of school. While dropping out of high school is due to problems such as the financial situation, the family circumstance faced by students, and their difficulty to get adapted to the school system, it also produces effects such as the limited access to jobs, the exposition to juvenile delinquency and the lack of education.
The major cause that motivates students to get out of high school is the financial situation of their parents. Not all students come from a rich family. Because of a lack of money, some parents cannot afford their children’s need such as school supplies, transportation or nutrition. Regularly, they just have a low rate job or maybe they are on the status of unemployment. It becomes impossible to take care of their family and even themselves. Poverty is a better word to describe their financial situation. It’s automatically clear that a student who lives in such conditions will drop out of school and will try to find a job in order to get some money. Additionally, some students from high school have a lot of difficulties to get adapted to the school system. To provide a better education, schools are always established on a strict system that imposes students to follow some rules in order to get satisfactory results. For example, the school system requires students to be present every day of class and on time, to do their homework and to study or to make research. However, some students find that difficult and unattractive. They do not feel motivated or interested for school. As a result, they fail in class. As long as they get bad grades in class, they always keep in mind that they are wasting their time by going to school. Therefore, the only possibility available for them now is to drop out of school.
Another point that causes young students to get out of school is their family circumstance. The majority of high school students are adolescents. We all know that adolescents are sensible, so they are most of the time affected by their family condition. In a family where parents are always fighting or arguing, it gets obvious that students won’t concentrate in their education. Generally, parents who are in trouble in their couple cannot focus anymore on their children’s education. This could lead students to fail in class, and then drop out of school. The same thing applies on a family where parents are separated or divorced. It cannot be easy for single parents to take care of their children; furthermore, to pay attention to their school work. This means children are neglected as well as their education.
It‘s certain that when students get out of high school, they have significant causes, but this situation of course generate many effects. First of all, non-graduated high school students have limited access to jobs opportunities. Even when they get one, it’s a low pay job. Knowledge, skill and ability are the first qualities that attract all employers. To stabilize or to develop their society, employers need help from qualified people. The better way to get knowledge is to go to school. The more someone goes to school, the more he earns knowledge. Secondly, when adolescents drop out of high school, they are likely exposed to juvenile delinquency. They don’t go to school anymore, so they have enough free time. Habitually, they have nothing to do, and they spend their time by staying in the street with friends. During this period, they might get involved into bad things such as crime, violence and vandalism. Actually, they become a danger for the society. Some of them run away from their family and turn to become homeless. Finally, students who drop out of high school are not educated enough. When people stop going to school early, they don’t have a possibility to be educated enough. They don’t behave correctly and they are not instructed. They cannot debate correctly like people who go to school. Sometimes, those people cannot even speak and write well. For example, it’s impossible for an illiterate person to give some pertinent ideas on a subject concerning the development of a country. They don’t have an ability to think enough. In conclusion, high school dropouts are due to many causes such as the financial situation, the family circumstance and the difficulty of students to get adapted to the school system; however, that situation produces long term effects. While some students stop going to school because of a lack of money and because of their family condition, some of them are just lazy. They don’t want to provide any efforts. As consequences, they have a limited access to jobs, they are exposed to the juvenile delinquency and they are not educated enough. To avoid students of dropping out of school, the government can help parents by providing school supplies to their children.