The say that numbers don’t lie. If that’s the case, then, we must face a very disturbing truth: the high school drop out rate is at epidemic proportions. According to the Ad Councel, 7000 students drop out of school every day. That’s 1 out of every 3 high school students. That’s more than 2.5 million of our young people that will not finish school this year. That equals one dropout every 26 seconds. Young people who drop out of high school have less of an opportunity to find employment, because they will lack the skills to compete in the job market. This will add to the number of unemployed. Lack of jobs and money make people desperate, which means it’s more likely that a high school drop out will commit a crime. 26 seconds have just gone by. In the time it took you to read this paragraph, another young person just dropped out of high school.
Why is the problem of dropping out of high school so prevelant? 65% of 500 high school dropouts interviewed said the reason they dropped out was because they were not motivated to work hard. This indicates a lack of communication and quality time spent between parents and children at home. While teachers and school staff should always be motivators, the greatest responsibility falls upon the parents to motivate and reassure their children. In fact the same number off youths also said they they would have tried harder if more was expected of them.
Poor economic conditions are also major reasons young people drop out of school. The drop out rate in poor areas have historically been substantially higher than in suburban areas. 25% of high school drop outs leave to become parents. This indicates a problem with teenage pregnancy-especially in poor areas. Perhaps nothing speaks so loudly about the economic difficulty of this country as the 32% of high school drop outs to quit school in order to get a job. Many young people have been forced to leave school in order to help their parents pay household bills and take care of other family members.
Numbers don’t lie. They tell us that unless major steps are taken to help today’s youth, the number of high school dropouts will increase. We must hurry. Another 26 seconds have just gone by. That means another teenager has just dropped out of high school…