Sandra was having a tough time with her boyfriend, he had gotten a small job and was pushing Sandra to join him. A reluctant Sandra was raped by John, resulting in a long jail term for John while Sandra is struggling with her pregnancy. Stephen’s story is different, in the middle of the third year of high school, his father suffered a bad accident forcing Stephen to take over. And unlike Sandra, John or Stephen, Delphi just didn’t find school interesting nor could he follow the high school courses.
However different their stories may be, the climax of all the four stories are same. They have enlisted themselves in the 1.25 million high school drop outs of USA. Those who still manage to graduate, often take more than four years. This huge number of high school drop outs speaks a lot of others to support their high school leaving decisions.
Some have to take the responsibilities of their family, some find high school education too expensive, some are burdened with single parenthood, some cannot bridle their fits of fury and end up in jail, some are “too content” to receive government subsidies and some simply don’t find the high school curriculum to be “useful” at all. This has taken the mercury of substance abuse, pure parent child relationship, peer pressure, low self esteem and early sexual activities to a high level.
Drop out students are more prone to psychological disorders like ADHD or learning disabilities and depression. Sometimes, the students are left with no other choice but to quit school because of school-created pressures like improper curriculum, poor teaching standard, deteriorating school environment, inability of the school to implement disciplinary measures, school violence, ignoring students’ performance or their individual demands and often lack of motivation. The picture is further different in case of English language learners, economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities.
Reasons and Warning Signs
One of the key reasons that propel the high school students to opt for drop out is an early job. But, from all the available data, it has been seen that in most of the cases, workers without a high school degree always lag behind the ones having it. The report of Educational Testing Service denotes that average earning (in 2002 dollars) from 1971 has slipped down for 35% in the male workers, while the female workers are earning over two thousand dollars less. The same study has drawn attention to the dark picture where US has been reported to have slid down to the 10th position in terms of school completion. The majority of the students opt out at the ninth grade due to repeating same grade for years.
When some are suggesting to raise the age for graduating to curtail the drop out rate, some are in doubt on the very utility of the school curriculum or the need for the students to maintain the class quorum. The proposals also take into account the need for revising the curriculum by making it more relevant and interesting to suit the capability of every student.
The “early warning signs” can be effective, through which it will be understood beforehand if a student is on the way of drop out. This is signaled by the frequent absences, behavioral changes or repetition in the same grade. Given that the present world requires excellence, students that opt out as early as 16 would find themselves at a severe disadvantage. It is recommended by some that an “exit interview” must be arranged with the students and their parents to make them aware of the prospective hard times the students might come across.
Benefit of Online Courses
In case if the situation of a point of no return does arise, there is still a way to resort to, the online high school courses. Apart from the high school drop outs, more people from different walks of life can be benefited from the online high school courses. There are the experienced professionals without a high school degree who want to brush up their long forgotten skills to fatten their pay checks, the professionals opting for a career switch, the individuals that want to add a competitive edge to their vocational acceptability and many others.
There are a number of colleges and universities that provide for best academic and vocational courses online. They vary in their designed curriculum and offer flexible and convenient method of learning without the need to bring a change in your daily schedule. You won’t need to sacrifice your present job, even if full time, and will be able to carry on with your studies at your convenience.
The study materials are well researched and cater to your specific needs. The general courses are mostly of four years, but you can also opt for short time crash courses at your will. Ashford University, Colorado Technical University Online and Walden University offer online courses on Arts, Science, Engineering, Management, Law Enforcement so on and so forth. When it is really difficult to retain students in the schools, their lives can still be made with the help of these online high school courses.
