if you, your child, or someone you know dropped out of high school: what?

Question

do you think was the primary reason for dropping out? what's the age in your state/country at which it's legal to drop out of school? do you think if that age were higher it might have prevented the drop out, or do you think that wouldn't make a difference? is there something specific you think that could have happened at *school* (not just the family or community) to prevent it?

bq: how would you address it if your 16- or 17-year-old wanted to drop out of school?

Answer 1

Many fall into that school isn't the right environment for them. Many very intelligent people don't fit in well with the sit still for 6 to 8 hours classroom type thing. It's not always the teachers or the parents, it's sometimes just the way it is. I almost didn't graduate high school. I only did because i had enough credits at the end of junior year, Only need the forth year of english to graduate. Yes I had a crummy childhood, no support. I also had decent teachers, although not a one i ever connected with in any way. I felt closed in, trapped in school. Drove me nuts and still does whenever i'm trapped inside for too long. Anyways, My son is a senior this year. I have seen a lot of his friends go from that good student, to being burned out or just not caring anymore. In the past few months, i have found out that this isn't abnormal. There is a large number of kids that fit into this category, some from good people. If he wanted to drop out, i would try to convince him to do otherwise. But in all honesty, if they are going to fail because they won't do the work.If they are going to skip. Then get them their GED and let them move on with their lives. Most understand that graduating is the best course, but emotionally many just can't take that kind of situation anymore. They need to move on.

Answer 2

My son is only 6 and already I am contemplating the possibility he may take that route because school for him has so far been such a horrid experience. I have a 15 year old who has gone through the system and had a totally different experience and is an overachiever with awards gallore.



I remember way way back in my high school days a girl in grade 10 about 16 years old dropped out of school. She did so to go to work. I thought it was so very strange. It doesn't seem so strange to me now and in fact I can see the point when time is just a waisting in class for students on the fringe and no real intervention in the school system to help them, then out of school is the answer in my opinion. It is tough though so it is not an easy answer.

Answer 3

My brother dropped out of school the day he turned 16. Once he turned 16 he was legally no longer required to attend school. But I think it runs deeper then that. I am not 100% sure of the reason why. He was skipping school way before he turned 16 so the legal age requirement being higher wouldn't have made any difference. The school, my mum, me tried everything to get him to go but nothing seemed to work. My brother was living with his dad by this point.



I would tell my child at that age to take a look at his uncle. I hate to say it but my brother is a bum. He is 18 now with no job. Lives at his dads still and doesn't have a GCSE to his name. Never attended college and has nothing going for him. It's sad to see as he was once on the young and gifted programme. He is so intelligent and he wasted it.

Answer 4

My friend's son dropped out of school nine months after he turned seventeen. He should have been in his senior year, but was enrolled for his third attempt at a sophomore year. Our school district has a drop out age of 16 and is considering 17, even though most of the board members would prefer 18 or a diploma/GED. The boy's primary reason for dropping out was that he was bored. He felt he was getting the information but that the teacher spent far too much time teaching the students who needed more help, so class became monotonous. As his parents put little focus on education and regularly kept the boys home to help out with housework or made excuses for them when they skipped class, I don't think the school could have done anything to encourage him to stay.



My nephew is currently considering dropping out. He is six months from graduation and has no plans for college. For several years he has wanted to work in the energy industry, primary interest in the oil fields. He has a friend who has dropped out and now works on rigs who constantly sends him texts telling him how great life is now that he is making a lot of money and doesn't have to go to school. I tutor my nephew twice a week in hopes of encouraging him to get through the next few months. Every time we meet, he tells me how most of the guys his friend works with don't have high school diplomas or GEDs, so he would be just like them. I counter with information on how the industry is boom/bust and he can't count on those big pay checks to be consistent and that he would look far better for a promotion down the road if he works hard AND has a high school diploma. I remind him that if he gets out there and hates the work, the diploma gives him more options if he chooses to look for another path for his future.

Answer 5

I dropped out at 16 ( got a GED several years later )



My reason was because no one made me go to school. My mom was on drugs back then and was too preoccupied to care.



I'm not 100% sure what the legal age is here. 17? So I can't really say if it would help if the legal age was raised. In my situation, no it wouldn't because I really had not been going to school full time for several years at that point.



And no in my situation the school really couldn't help my screwed up home life.



bq - My kids must finish high school. No questions about it. It helps that we home school, so I pretty much have that under control, but even if they went to PS I would force them to finish if they were the kind of kids that didn't want to. I know first hand how society looks down on people who didn't finish school. I don't want that for my kids.

Answer 6

Bet none of ya'll knew I dropped out of highschool, but I did. Signed myself out at 18. I did so because I took such a heavy load early on that my senior year was comprised of the 2 classes I needed to graduate and the rest were electives. I was bored and disliked being in school for so many hours when I only needed 2 classes. I went and finished in adult school within a month and went to college the next fall.



I think the age should be 18, no younger.



bq: there better be a good reason and a plan, because i'd accept nothing else.

Answer 7

Speaking from personal experiences only, the people I know who have dropped out were mostly "Lol I don't need to graduate I can get a job making $x.xx/hour doing xxxx and I'll be just fine! ditzy dumb people, with _no_ justified reason.



These people never had a family that instilled in them the importance of graduating, or helped with schoolwork, just a "I'll whoop your @$$ if you drop out!"



I don't think anybody should be allowed to drop out before 21. Years after not graduating, or only having a GED all these people have told me "I wish somebody made me stay, it's so much harder not having a real diploma."



The drop-out age here is 16 or 17 with parental consent, 18 without parental consent.



I'm not sure anything at school could have changed the decision of the people I knew. They had no respect for any of the faculty. The only thing that could have been done was forced continuation of schooling.

Answer 8

My husband dropped out because he was very behind, our freshman year he got really sick and missed like 4 months of school and he just never really got caught up. He dropped out at 17 and got his GED. No I don't think the age would have prevented the drop out under the circumstances. It might make a difference to kids who dropped out simply because they did not like school though. If my child wanted to drop out I would tell them it is their choice, but I won't sign the papers and they will have to wait until they are the right age to do so. By then they will likely be graduated anyway.

Answer 9

I know quite a few people who dropped out of high school. Some of them because they got pregnant, some of them because they just couldn't get along with any of the teachers. Some of them went on to home school and got their diploma... others got their GED years later and others just didn't do anything to further their education. I believe the legal age around here is 16.



BQ: There is no way that I would even consider letting them drop out. Of course, I would listen to what they have to say, but then they would have to listen to my reasons as well.

Answer 10

My brother dropped out of high school because he was bored.

He went to a different high school than I did, and they didn't offer AP classes, college courses, or grade advancement like mine did and the material relevant to his grade was too easy for him. He got bored, he got in trouble, he dropped out.

He got his GED and went on to college. He's more successful than some high school grads. I think it was the right choice for him to cut his high school career short. A higher age restriction wouldn't have mattered (it was 16 then, it may still be I'm unsure).

My brother certainly wasn't the only intelligent student in that school. They're doing the entire student body a disservice by not offering AP/CP courses and not working with the local colleges.



BQ: It depends entirely on the situation. If it were similar to my brothers it may be something I'd go along with. I wouldn't worry about it being the end of academia for her. Our entire family is college educated, it's just something that you do in this clan, like breathing. There's no way she'd skip college.

Answer 11

I don't know what age is legal. My mom dropped out of high school when she was pregnant with my sister at age 16, this was back in 1970.



If any of my kids wanted to drop out of school I simply wouldn't allow it. My twins are 16 now and I can't imagine them wanting to drop out of school but in any case, in my house, I am still very much the boss and I just wouldn't hear of it. I don't care if I had to drive them there myself and walk them to each class, their butts would be going.

Answer 12

My mum dropped out after becoming pregnant with me during her last year of high school. She has since gone back and finished school.

My youngest sister also dropped out, twice. The first time was just because she didn't want to go. We were after her constantly to go back and she finally did, just to be harassed by her vice principle, who was determined to get her expelled. So she dropped out again and is now doing her schooling via correspondence. She's almost done now.



Someone can legally leave school at age 18 in my province (Ontario). The age wouldn't have changed a thing, since my mum and sister were both underage when they left school.

My mum has said she would have been able to stay in school if she hadn't been treated so horribly by her teachers and fellow students for being pregnant. She was basically run out of the school because she was going to be a mother. When she went back a few years later, she had a much more enjoyable experience.

There wasn't much the school could do the first time my sister dropped out, she just didn't go and thought education wasn't important. The second time though, the staff could have listened to her better when she told them about her vice principle.





BQ: If my 16-17 year old wanted to drop out of school, I would find out what the problem at school was and try to resolve it. And let her talk to my mum and sister so she could hear their experiences with it and how hard it was for them to get back in school. Because once you drop out, the school board loses a lot of faith in you and aren't as eager to let you back in since according to your history, you are a quitter.

Answer 13

i dropped out at 15 years old. i dropped out because of things going on in my life. i couldnt handle it all. it was too much at once.



the age you're allowed to drop out is 17 with a parents consent. and you can drop out on your own a 19



the age wouldn't have made a difference in my case.



i think if i had had a better home life i would've stayed in school



i would make sure the child understood the consequences. i would try to talk him/her out of it. especially after the challenges i went through and how hard it was to get myself back on the right track. when you dropout, you don't feel good about yourself any more. you can't get a good job if you drop out and the places you do apply, they won't take you seriously and they will be less likely to hire you

Answer 14

My step-neice (my husband's sister's step-daughter....) dropped out. She got pregnant at 16. I THINK she eventually got her GED, but I'm not certain.



(My BIL is a pretty good guy, but his ex had custody, and she was/is trailer trash.)



It's very hard for me to even envision my own daughter wanting she drop out. While she had some ... issues ... during middle school, it was never anything that might have led her to consider dropping out. She's in college now.



From a statistical POV I don't think legal school leaving ages have much influence. Usually a kid who is going to drop out is already struggling long before he hits 16, and even if he's still attending school, he's not getting much benefit from it.

Answer 15

My mother pulled me out of school at sixteen and i was not allowed to go back by her. ( she is crazy i know! lol) anyway, i think if the school had enforced attendance rules better then it wouldn't have h append. I don't even think they called once to see where i was for months. I did however go on to get my diploma later on in life but I worked really hard to catch up. If my son wanted to drop out of school I would sit down with him and layout the real statistics for him and his life if he decides to not complete his high school education. Also explain each pro and con so that his decision is an educated one. Same goes for college. This way he must take full responsibility for anything that happens there after. This is only my opinion though.

Answer 16

I know three sisters who dropped out of high school. Each of them did so after becoming pregnant. I believe in my state kids can drop out at 16 but I'm not sure.

Answer 17

As a high school teacher I know many, many kids who have dropped out. The problem for most of them was the way state standards have changed high schools. It is now assumed that every child is there in order to prepare for college...which isn't realistic for many, many students. The lowest level math class that is offered for credit is algebra, general and basic level classes were phased out. It is fine to have high standards, but standards must be realistic...and the truth of the matter is there are many kids who could take algebra or chemistry every year they are there and no matter how great of a teacher they have or how much help they are given, will never be able to pass. Most of my students who have dropped out (I worked with kids with learning disabilities and emotional disabilities) became frustrated and realized they were wasting their time, as they would never be able to fulfill the requirements for a diploma.



What could have prevented them from dropping out is instead of creating more and more honors-type diplomas, offering vocational and trade type diplomas as they did in the past...

Answer 18

The days after I turned 16 ... (drop out age) .... Michigan they now changes the rule to 18 but I was already dropped out so they could not say anything .. I did it due to anxiety and depression ..... I enrolled now online ... If my parents were more supportive and not so down on me It would of helped...

Answer 19

The only people i knew who have dropped out of school are losers, i was homeless in high school and still graduated working full time and living in hotels. School counselors will offer you options if you have a hard time getting to class as long as youve been a good student who didnt get in trouble.



I'm not even going to make it an option for children, dont drop out of school or youll be a sh*tbag.

Answer 20

Where we live, legal dropout age is 16...where I grew up, it's 18 - although I believe it was 17 when I left (not entirely sure). I left when I was 15 and wasn't all that concerned with legalities.



When I left, I'd already been skipping heavily for four years...I just barely made it through my freshman year and then a few weeks into my sophomore year, I made a dash for it and never went back. I hated my school, but it was honestly more about getting out of my house and away from my parents at that point. I had a sucky home life, was doing awful in school, I'd skip, I'd get suspended, I'd get expelled for not showing up (and then my father would pay the smarmy private school folks off until they reversed the expulsion), I'd show up just to take the tests in order to pass the class (barely), I hated the students and the teachers and they hated me, I preferred running (as in, hop a train and get out of town...not cross country school sport/activity) to showing up for school...the more I got in trouble, the more my sorry a*s felt like the world was against me, the more I wanted to leave...I stopped caring and so I left. I don't have a GED...when I got my life back on track a little bit, I began to push myself through college and an online schooling curriculum, simultaneously...and then tested out of high school. There was nothing the school could have done...and by that point, there was nothing anyone could have done...my parents could have turned it around and been the best parents in the world, but it still would have been too late...I had to figure sh*t out on my own.



A lot of the people I knew who dropped out were teenage junkies and alcoholics just like me...a lot of us came from abusive homes....a lot of us felt like school was stifling...a lot of us felt like we'd be better off on our own without people telling us what to do...a lot of us just didn't care.



If my 16 year old comes to me and tells me he wants to drop out of high school, I'll ask him what his plan after that is...and it better be a good one. At that point, we'll hopefully still be homeschooling and my hopes in doing that is that they can learn as they want to learn...if he feels in control of it all, hopefully it won't be something he feels stifled by. If he wants to quit school, leave home, hop trains, and do drugs like his ol' lady...can't say I'd support it...but hopefully I won't raise my kids to be dumba*ses.

Answer 21

Lack of motivation in 9th and 10th - then too dreadfully far behind in 11th and 12th (when he finally shaped up and matured) to make graduation anywhere near the same time as his peers. Dropped out when his peers graduated and he was still in 10th-11th by number of credits.

Answer 22

Des!!



Lack of motivation, probably stemmed from years of non-helpful parents.



BQ: I wouldn't address it because it wouldn't even be an option...no child of mine will be a high school drop out and I'm going to make that very clear to them.

Answer 23

My mom did and it was because she got pregnant.



I would not allow it!

Answer 24

des??? You're back??



are you the real des? lol