| OPINION
| November 9, 2004
Staff Column
No Dropout Left Behind
Ontario’s proposed law to
require students to stay in school is an example the United States
should consider following
At age 16, I was getting in trouble for
various stupid reasons not worth printing. I hated school, as did
most of my friends. I couldn’t keep track of my homework,
and I’m grateful I didn’t have to work to pay rent or
raise a child.
I survived high school, but many of my peers dropped out, and now
they struggle to keep bottom-rung jobs.
Within the next 10 years, those of us now in college will be making
major decisions for our families and communities, and this is the
time for us to consider what we can fix once we have the chance.
Many of us have seen peers fall by the wayside because they couldn’t
pass or keep a job. Ontario’s government is addressing this
problem with a proposed law that would require students to remain
in school until age 18, no longer giving them the option of dropping
out at 16, like in the U.S.
Perhaps we should follow suit.
Granted, passing a law doesn’t change the factors that lead
to high dropout rates, but a stiff fine or other strong consequence
could motivate parents and educators to alleviate causes of the
problem. For example, some students leave because they aren’t
challenged enough, while others don’t receive the help they
need. Some students feel unwelcome or unsafe at school, and others
cut classes because of peer pressure, a sign of low self-esteem.
We don’t have to make high school insanely fun; there’s
no way to do it. As far as I know, no one but the prom queen enjoyed
those four years, and even she wasn’t sure about it sometimes.
Making school bearable would help. Making it applicable to real
life would be even better.
For example, poverty is a major factor in the decision to drop out.
Faced with many problems (monetary and otherwise), students living
in poor neighborhoods sometimes quit school because they have to
work. Schools could teach time and money management rather than
letting low socioeconomic status mark children for failure.
Ontario’s initiative allows for jailing students if they don’t
stay in school — an extreme solution that may only transfer
the problem from classrooms to jail cells. But Ontario has an extreme
problem (a 30-percent dropout rate), which may require that kind
of strong action.
The U.S., however, has an 11 percent dropout rate, according to
the Child Trends Databank. This number is still too high, but we
could probably get by without sending anyone to jail.
When we leave college, some will be in positions to implement the
kind of school reform our country needs. The people who need these
changes most are in no position to overhaul the education system,
but others can help future students by improving things before they
go through the high school nightmares we endured.
— Mary Richert is an English senior and staff columnist for
The Shorthorn
|
|
