High School and College Dropouts - Assignment Example

Why do so many young people drop out of high school or fail to graduate from college? Introduction High School and College Dropouts have been a great cause of national concern. Nearly one third of students in the US fail to graduate; of which blacks and Hispanics form 50 percent of the students (Azzam, 91). Dropouts become an economic burden for not just their families but also the government since they are more likely to avail welfare benefits. These dropouts are also more likely to face criminal charges and have psychological issues such as low self-esteem (Barton, 5). Many efforts have been made to reduce the number of dropouts. However, the problem continues to exist. For this reason, it is important to understand the reasons for dropouts from the student’s perspective. Research on this subject is extensive and some of the research will be discussed in this paper. Lamb, in his book, School Dropouts and Completion, divides the reasons for dropping out as individual reasons and contextual reason (Lamb, 283). Individual Reasons The attitude of the student towards school and education has strong impact on dropping out. According to Azzam, the top five reasons students drop out of school include failing, getting bored with school; increased absenteeism that makes it difficult for students to catch up, loss of interest and also too much freedom in the lives which makes school were difficult to bear (Azzam, 91). Research indicates that socio-economic status of the students has a strong impact on their likelihood to dropout. Students belonging to Black, Hispanic or other immigrant families from non-English background are more likely to dropout out. This likelihood is increased when the students come from poor families (Lamb, 284). A research conducted by Teachman, et. al., revealed that residential or school mobility also have an impact on dropout rates. When students are forced to shift schools more often, they tend to lose interest in school (Lambm 284). Thus, the main individual factor that contributes to dropout is lack of engagement towards the school. This disengagement from school usually begins in early school and continues to weaken with time (Christine, Jolivette and Nelson, 326). Potential dropouts are disengaged from the school or the teachers which affects their performance, their absenteeism and their attitude and this ultimately leads to dropping out. However, it is not just individual factors that contribute towards increasing dropout rates. In fact these factors are greatly influenced by the context in which the dropout lives. These include his school, his family and also other factors. Blaming the individual is not the solution, rather the solution should be found in the interrelationship of the individual and contextual factors. Contextual Reasons Contextual Reasons that shape the individual attitude towards school are influenced by the school, the family and even the community. The School It is often the rigidity and lack of engagement from the school authorities and teachers that has a profound impact on the student’s attitude. Schools that house a large population of the student body are unable to give proper attention to each student. Dropout rate in smaller schools is less as compared to bigger schools. School resources also have an impact on how students approach school. Resources refer to the ratio of teacher and student. When the difference in ratio is higher, teachers are not able to give students the attention they deserve and students disengage from their studies increasing absenteeism and decreasing academic performance (Lamb, 286). School rules and policies also impact the perception of the students. Sometimes school rules and policies are crafted in such a way that they contribute to the disengagement of the student. This happens when through rules and policies, schools withdraw their support and encouragement towards the students. They continue to implement rigid rules without considering the impact on the student and his academic performance. For instance, schools may have strict policies towards absenteeism. Thus with increased absenteeism on the part of the student, the school withdraw their support and indirectly force the student to dropout (Lamb, 286). The Family Students belonging to certain families are more likely to dropout. These include families that belong to a non-English background such as Black, Hispanics, etc. Parents of students are expected to inculcate strong academic aspiration. However, at times parents do not motivate students to acquire knowledge. Family poverty is found to increase the chances of dropout students. This is because poverty increases certain conditions such as high mobility, absent parents (in jail); drug abuse, domestic violence, lack of resources (Rumberger). These conditions indirectly contribute to students being disengaged from schools as these problems create undue stress in the student’s life and prevent him from focusing on academics. Another way family impacts a student’s chance of dropping out is the size of the family and poverty. In families belonging to the lower strata of the society, elder siblings are often pushed to earn money. These siblings get easy jobs at the local Wal-Mart store or McDonalds that pay a reasonable amount of cash considering that the person is just a college student. In such cases, students often perceive the economic advantage of working rather than understanding the importance of education in their lives. Thus they drop out of schools to support their family. The Community The community where the student lives also has a profound impact on how they perform at schools. In USA, dropout rates in certain neighborhoods are higher than in others. Higher dropout rates are often found in poor communities. Two reasons have been identified for this. The first is negative peer pressure. Students in poor communities usually have a good number of friends who have dropped out. This puts negative peer pressure on the student and the chances of dropping out subsequently increase. Another reason associated with high dropout rate in poor neighborhoods is the lack of resources available to the students. These resources include those received from the school and from the home. Conclusion ` Dropouts present a big challenge for policy makers and the government. This problem has negative implications on different aspects of the society including economic, social and even psychological. The reasons for dropping out of school are quite complex. Each dropout has a different story to tell. It is not the student who would be held accountable for the action. Rather a myriad of forces interact with the student and subsequently change his attitude towards school and academics. The change in attitude occurs as a result of any or all of the following: the school’s attitude, the family and even the community. Work Cited Azzam, Amy, Why Students drop out, Educational Leadership 64(7): 91–93. Barton, Paul, One-third of a nation: Risking dropout rates and declining opportunities. Princeton, New Jersey: Policy Information Center, Educational Testing Service, 2005 Lamb, Stephen, School Dropout and Completion: International Comparative Studies in Theory and Policy, New York: Springer, 2010 Rumberger, Russell, Poverty and High Dropout Rates, Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/indicator/2013/05/poverty-dropouts.aspx Read More