High School DropoutsEssay title: High School DropoutsHigh School DropoutsEntering high school is the beginning of a whole new learning experience. Transitioning from middle school, high school presents more classes, students, and a bigger campus. It brings new expectations and responsibilities to each of us. High school also offers fresh chances to make new friends, try new sports and activities, and really explore who we are as individuals. The goal is to maintain good grades, score high on the SAT test, and keep a positive attitude so colleges and universities will accept you. Of course it’s not as easy at sounds, but it’s achievable. It requires a lot of work and dedication to every subject. Some students breeze their way through while others live in misery trying to pass their classes. Most of the high school population completes all the credits required and graduates from high school with a diploma. There is still a significant amount of students who drop out of school, some drop out by choice and some have to because they need to support themselves or their family financially. It doesn’t take much for a student to drop out of school; a little misguidance can break the chain from achieving a high school diploma. There are many reasons linked to dropping out of school and many kids fall into them. The main causes of school dropouts are personal factors, home and school stability, school experiences, social behavior, and rebellion.
Students drop out for many reasons; some which may even seem like good ones at the time, for example, to help out their families or to start new ones, and their decisions may be supported by the people closest to them in the belief that they have no choice.
Personal problems affecting students seem to be the main cause for students to drop out of high school. Having children seem to be the main personal problem facing dropout students, especially in women. Close to half of the dropouts students, both male and female, have children or are expecting one (Schwartz). Marriage is another great personal factor to the dropout rate. Marriage is a very stressful factor to any student. This stress could and does send many students to the point where they have too much to deal with. School becomes a second priority and is often discarded to lighten the load married couples deal with.
Jobs also increase the percentage of students dropping out of school. Some students may and do have to take on a job to support themselves or their family. The job may interfere with school hours, school homework, and/or school activities. Almost all students crave for the newest clothes, shoes, cell phones, etc. and sometimes when the parents can’t afford all these things for their children, they seek out ways to make money themselves, finding themselves in a job. Slowly increasing their hours week by week, they overlook education and live for the moment with their temporary possessions. Most of the dropouts who replace their school time with a job are often living under a low income family which includes many Hispanics. They take up 24 percent of all high school dropouts, placing them the highest ethnic rate according to Childs Trends DataBank (CTD).
Students in broken homes are more than twice as likely to drop out of school as those with families intact (Schwartz). This is so because of the fact that this is another stressful matter these young minds must also deal with. Home and school stability is another cause to students dropping out of high school. More than half of dropouts have moved within their four years of being in high school (Schwartz). If a student does not have a stable home or a stable school life, then they are more likely to drop out of school. Stableness allows the student to feel comfortable enough to try to work at school. If they have a stable home and school life, then that is one less worry for them. This allows them to concentrate on staying in school instead. The more stable a situation is, the more comfortable the student becomes with the surroundings, the better they get along with teachers and students, and the easier it is for the to fit in and work hard at school.
Studies have also found that dropping out is more likely to occur among students from single-parent families and students with an older sibling who has already dropped out than among counterparts without these characteristics. Other aspects of a student’s home life such as level of parental involvement and support, parent’s educational expectations, parent’s attitudes about school, and stability of the family environment can also influence a youth’s decision to stay in school. For example, results from the NCES study found that students whose parents were not actively involved in the student’s school, whose parents infrequently talked to them about school-related matters, or whose parents held low expectations for their child’s future educational achievement
and on the importance of family involvement have higher rates of leaving the home.
When a student is not actively involved in their school schedule, it has been shown that the likelihood of a student leaving is much worse than the likelihood of going back home. For example, this could be due to an individual’s failure to have access to housing or to school-related activities that would help him develop and fulfill his goals throughout the semester (6, 9). Therefore, a student who does not go to school is likely to feel a higher likelihood of leaving school, since the probability of leaving with less money for a few months depends on the amount of time available and the student’s level of interest in school. It can also be due to the other factors that may affect the likelihood of leaving: student’s family circumstances, the student’s level of academic commitment, his personal or professional beliefs and expectations, and also the fact that their family needs to adjust. The study also found that the likelihood of leaving with a change in status for a long period of time (2 month or more) is higher during a tenure track, because the likelihood of leaving with less money does not include a change in family situations.
The other major factor that might raise the risk of leaving is when parental and/or financial conflicts arise between the student and his or her parents. This may be due to separation or the failure to communicate and interact in the parent’s home. Other forms of conflict include conflict between students and school policies, bullying, or bullying the parent or other students by classmates. School policy also may affect both parents and students depending on the quality and quality of the school environment. A student may also be less likely to be able to learn (i.e., find work or school that he or she desires) than a parent. This could indicate the student is not looking for better things in the home and is trying too hard to be a good student through work or for better school. In some cases, the student may be struggling with a personal problem that needs help, such as addiction, substance abuse, or learning disability (10). While there was no clear link between changes in parental support and a higher probability of a student leaving (12, 13), the high degree of involvement in school programs and the need to work harder for pay have also contributed to the high rates among students who are less likely to leave (18).
In light of these findings, it has become apparent that if students who are not involved in school activities and who choose not to attend school (such people as parents, siblings, grandparents, or siblings) are at higher risk for leaving, they may be forced to make major changes. And this risks being perceived as important, as students have made significant and even significant changes from the past generation to future generations, and are likely to make some new assumptions about the safety and quality of their student’s life (4, 19). In addition, it has become clear that one way it is best to reduce the negative effects of student leaves is to eliminate many of the barriers that have worked in