High School Dropouts

As the end of the term approaches quickly, she fumbles through her finals attempting to save her grades at the last moment. She can feel the pressure of tests and quizzes and carefully calculates every homework assignment so that it counts. College applications are due soon and this is her last chance to prove she is ready for that. She does not know if she is. It would be easier to stop now and just go find a job. She could help out around the house, pay some bills or tend to her seven little brothers. The pressure is overwhelming and at this point she has enough skills to get a stable job. Doesn't she?

Although many people believe that high school dropouts are just lazy students that don't contribute anything to society but negative feelings, crime, and bad choices, in reality, a good majority of these drop out students do not dropout to engage in criminal activity, but rather to help their families or themselves in the best way they know how.

"Dropout" is almost the wrong term to use because sometimes the problem is that the student takes longer than the standard four years to complete high school, or they end up getting a GED instead of a high school diploma. This skews statistics labeled "dropouts" because the students that do take longer than the average four year window or choose to receive their GED later in life are still considered dropouts. This also effects the statistics for schools when reporting how many students dropped out because who is really to blame for a student leaving? The school? Or the situation? And which school should take credit when the student chooses to take courses to complete a degree later in life? All of these should be looked at when comparing dropout statistics. However, for this essay, dropout will refer to someone who never completed their four year high school diploma.

While dropout rates have decreased by 3% since 1990, there is typically a 25% average of high school freshman that will not graduate from high school and a total of over 1.2 million students from the US alone will not graduate from high school (https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-high-school-dropout-rates). While the percentage of graduating Latino students is gradually increasing, there is still a much larger percentage of minority dropouts than there is Caucasian dropouts. Many of these high school students that drop out do so because of their family's economic standing.

High school dropout rates have steadily increased as our country grows older, putting America 22 of 27 countries for the highest dropout rates. According to an article by John Rosales, the majority of these dropouts would not have dropped out if they had been offered the choice. These students often come from families that are of the minority in America and, typically, live below the national poverty line. The student will drop school to help raise money for their family in a few different ways: 1, they will contribute all their earnings into the family's income to provide for the whole family. 2, they will use their personal income to supply for themselves and siblings as far as food and clothing are concerned. Or 3, they will completely move out, providing for all their own wants and needs.

Dropout students usually bounce between low-income jobs frequently and earn significantly less than people that continue on through high school and college. When asked if they would have stayed in high school and finished, the majority of interviewed students said they would have and they wish they could go back. 

There is a story of one 17 year old girl that dropped out just last spring before graduation. She did not drop out because she needed to pay the bills, rather she graduated because she felt like there was a greater purpose than just going to high school to get a piece of paper congratulating her on success for the last four years and left to pursue that thought. She recounts that there are very few times she has looked back and regretted her decision, as she is fairly successful as a movie writer after only a few months of leaving school. This, however, is just one account of a successful dropout, who could still go back to school and get a GED like a good percentage of students end up doing.

While many of these students drop school to help stabilize themselves financially, it often becomes the opposite as the average dropout will earn $200,000 less than the average high school graduate in their lifetime (https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-high-school-dropout-rates). Dropouts will also account for 75% of the crime in the United States, from misdemeanors to more drastic crimes (https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-high-school-dropout-rates). However, despite all these negative statistics, there has been little correlation between high school dropout rates and sexually transmitted infections- a ray of hope in what seems an uphill battle. A study conducted by D. Mark Anderson and Claus C. Portner discusses the correlation between male and female dropouts and the risk they are at for sexually transmitted infections. The study shows that there are many variables that play into how the student is affected: age, age when they dropped out, gender, how many sexual partners they had, and if their partner was abusive. There was actually very little difference- an average of one- in the number of sexual partners drop out females had and the number female students had, and zero difference- on average- in the number of partners male's had.

Dropping out of high school may seem like a good idea right now. It may seem easier. It may seem like the gateway to a more opportune future even. There may seem like few consequences but, in reality, there are more negative consequences than there could ever be positive consequences. Even though there is no increase in disease and there have been success stories from dropouts, all in all there are more economic struggles and a much higher chance of crime once a high school diploma is taken out of the picture.