America's Dropout Crisis and Adolescent Substance Use - Assignment Example

Hispanics (23 percent) and Native Americans (25 percent) comprise a quarter of all the dropouts; they are followed by African Americans (12 percent), white Americans (11 percent), and Asian Americans (1.5 percent). The overall results of the NSDUH report show that 12th grade-aged young people were more likely to be engaged in substance abuse, such as cigarettes, alcohol, binge alcohol, illicit drugs, marijuana, etc. For instance, 27 percent of dropouts were marijuana users compared to 15 percent of current students (SAMHSA). Overall, the research shows that there is a correlation between drug users rates among students and the rates of school dropout.

One of the recent studies conducted by Gasper revisits the relationship between drug use among students and the rates of school dropout with the aim not only to define the percentage of drug users and non-users but the developmental pattern of the processes of drug abuse and school dropout. The main specific feature of this very research is the attendance to differences of experiences and background of students, which could lead to drug abuse and school dropout. The results of the research show that there is a significant difference between those who use drugs and do not use drugs based on their background, such as the data collected from them in 8th grade. More specifically, the comparison of students who use drugs and those who do not use but have similar results obtained in 8th grade, the relationship between drug use and drop out from school fell by one-half (Gasper 603). This suggests that taking into consideration the broader context is of great importance in studying the issue. At the same time, even if to take the background into account, the positive correlation between drug use among students and school dropout rates still takes place.

The latest studies of the problem, however, deny the existence of the unilateral relationship between drug use and school dropout rates. One of such researches is the one titled “America's Dropout Crisis: The Unrecognized Connection to Adolescent Substance Use”. The authors of the article claim that there exists a bilateral relationship between the studied issues. In other words, DuPont, Caldeira, DuPont, Vincent, Shea, and Arria suggest that drug use both causes and is causes dropout from school (35-37). Similar to the research conducted by Gaper, this one also claims that social, biological, environmental, and another mechanism (in other words, background) should also be taken into consideration while studying the issue.

The first study under consideration presents bare figures on substance use among 12th-grade students and 12th grade aged young people in relation to dropout status, gender, race, and ethnicity. The research only suggests that there exists a relationship between all these factors but does not give certain conclusions. The second study goes further and analyzes the importance of the broader context in studying the problem and suggests the necessity to apply the propensity score matching method, which appears to be effective. Finally, the last research reveals the existence of the bidirectional relationship between drug abuse and school dropout rates, which is of great importance for further researches. Still, there is no clear data on the underlying processes that can cause both behaviors. While it is difficult to prevent young people from taking drugs, it is necessary to study the processes that lead from substance abuse to school dropout and vice versa for these two problems have a destructive character and their solving is crucial for the entire society. Read More