Dropping Out: Why Students Drop Out Of High School

Forty minutes left in this boring classroom. The teacher at the front of the room babbles consistently about everything that revokes my interest. I cannot sit still in this uncomfortable plastic seat. I understand why students loathe the thought of going to school. However, simple boredom minutely compares to dropping out of school. According to the book Dropping Out : Why Students Drop Out of High School and What Can Be Done About It, “Public high schools in the United States reported that 607,789 students dropped out in 2008– 09” (Rumberger 1). Common consequences for those students consist of detriments such as decreased pay, low availability of applicable jobs, and low self-esteem. I know of only rare cases where high school drop outs emerge prosperous in the modern economic world. Graduation of high school is crucial to increase chances of success. The student’s background, school performance, and personal choices can cause him to consider or even go through with dropping out of school.

Where we come from influences so many aspects of our lives. Since our grand entrance into this world our parents have influenced almost all aspects of our lives. Franklin Schargel points out that if the parents of a student have dropped out, the dropout risk goes up (“Real Reasons”). Perhaps the student observes that the parent who dropped out does not value education; the student may think, “If my parent did not care, then why should I?” or, “They did pretty well without all of this, so I can, too.”

The situation in which we grow up in our families can affect dropout rates immensely. In “Why Students Drop Out of School: A Review of 25 Years of Research”, Rumberger and Lim conclude that students that go through their parents’ divorce or a f...

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...igher dropout risk if they exceed twenty hours of work a week (Rumberger and Lim 2). Students need to learn where to prioritize when it comes to schoolwork and recognize the influences on school priorities if they want to be successful in their educational careers.

Many factors affect a student’s choice of staying in school, including but not limited to where they came from, their academic success, and their individual decisions. There are so many effects to this huge epidemic happening to this generation’s students. Although they cannot completely control how their life goes, making education a focus will benefit them greatly in the long run. The students can gain a sense of accomplishment that can boost their self-esteem and confidence later in life. Although school may not be the most fascinating place to go, in the end the effects are worth every minute of it.