Keeping Kids in School
As I went online to cruise through my high school website reminiscing my youth, I discovered that each of the past graduating classes had a graduating rate of 99%. This means that in the past 10 years, only 10 of the approximately 1,000 total graduates have dropped out. Growing up in an international school environment that maintains such a low dropout rate, I was surprised by the relatively low graduation rate in Massachusetts last year. The 2009 report released by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education indicates that only 81.5% of the 77,038 enrolled students in Massachusetts graduated last year. If my math didn't fail me, this means that roughly 14,252 students dropped out from school in 2009. And we are only talking about figures for Massachusetts.
Looking back to my personal experience as a high school student, I really appreciate the accessibility of the help and advice I received. Whether academic or not, when problems arose, I could always consult my teachers, academic counselors, and other adult professionals. But as United Way puts it, today, 52% of Massachusetts' young people say they don't have an adult outside of their family that they can discuss a problem with. This could be a primary problem that leads to higher dropout rates.
Other leading problems could be tuition or simply school supplies. For many, the financial crisis that hit us years ago that is still lingering on, cut down many luxuries such as traveling or buying new cars. For others, this may mean that they can no longer attend school. That's kind of life changing, don't you think?
Let us remember that these children are not just dropouts. They are the 14,252 future doctors, lawyers, accountants, environmental activists, and much more. But most importantly, they are the future pillars of our society; thus, it is to all our best interest to keep them in school. It is as easy as contributing schools supplies to help out financially troubled students, or if you've got the time, volunteer to keep our future leaders in school!
very interesting
very interesting
Learning to appreciate luxuries in life
It is the issues you have brought up in this article that make me feel that I need to study as hard as I can and graduate with the highest degree classification possible. That way, when I actually go out and get my job, I'll be able to work my way up and be able to give something back to the less privileged kids whilst supporting myself. And obviously, if I have children, I'll be able to give them the best education I can afford.
I guess I'm just trying to say that those of us who had the good education with all the people around us for guidance should really appreciate the enormous costs that our parents had to pay to get us through private schools. And then we should find a way to pay someone back for it, whether it is our parents or society in general.
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