America's New Epidemic: High School Dropouts

As if it is not bad enough that the country is in the middle of the biggest economic slump since the Great Depression, there is a new crisis arising in the United States. An alarming rate of high school students are dropping out. Currently only half are graduating from high schools in major cities. This increase in our nation’s dropout rate would only mean an increase of young adults who aren’t prepared not to mention fit for a job which minimum requirement is a high school diploma. In 2002, George W. Bush’s Administration passed the No Child Left Behind Act. It failed, not addressing the issues communities faces as more students continue to walk away from their educational pathways.

           
     The dropout rate is increasing exponentially in this country and we need to put a stop to it. From gathered sources the main reasons why teens drop out of high school are: personal family circumstances, like family financial status, teens that fall so behind they give up on their education because of prior negligence, teen age pregnancy, and lack of interest and motivation. Across the nation communities are being negatively impacted by the growth of these numbers coming from a person who sees it everyday.

           
         In a recent interview conducted with Mr. Avila, a mathematics teacher at Pomona High School, regarding the effect of high school dropouts in a community said “Its (high school dropout) a vicious cycle that is hard to break. Then poverty, crime, these things do not reflect well on the community. I think by helping the community as a whole, dropout rates would decrease.” Mr. Luis Avila himself, faced his own hardships in his life coming to the United States at the age of 15 speaking little to no english. He graduated from Pomona High School thus went on to Mt. San Antonio College to earn his degree in mathematics. 
        
        The No Child Left Behind Act failed to address some of the needs communities face, as students continue to drop out of high school. This act should be administered through more of a state or local based level, maybe look into the differences of varying areas. State and local communities suffer when they have lass educated populances, and these entities would spend more on educational programs or federal aid once these teenagers reach adulthood. When a student decides to drop out of high shoool, everyone is affected the student, the school, the parent, and essentially the community for letting this happen.

          
         As a high school student myself, I see the impact of high school dropouts have on our community. As time passes, there are more and more unoccupied desks in our classroom or as you move in advance curriculum. How can the district let this happen, these teens need to stay in school! It hurts me to see every year my class size become smaller and smaller. Students need motivation from parents, teachers, and counselors, and only then will they value the true meaning of an education. These children will be our future, whether we like it or not, they are the next workforce of America and we must prepare them to do just that.

-Samantha Hernandez