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I think 18, but I also think the entire school system needs a major overhaul to focus on both general education and stuff that actually matters to life.
Maybe general ed up to 14 and then more focused studies or more options instead of requirements so teens can explore different types of career-focused classes so they can find something they enjoy and are good at. More votech and apprenticeships too. More life skills classes that actual matter: personal finance, professional skills like interviewing, etc.
So one kid who wants to be a doctor is taking microbiology because they find it fascinating and another kid who loves cars is taking auto mechanics, business math, etc. And a kid who doesn't know what he wants to be takes some biology, some accounting, some art, a cooking class and finds out what they want to do with their lives as the last 4 years of education go by.
I had to take 4 years of science in high school (way back when) in order to graduate. I was never going to be any type of scientist. A colossal waste of time. I could learn more diverse scientific things reading Discover magazine once a month, too.
If they are justified, sure. But throughout human history we see over and over the tendency of people to become unconsciously prejudiced. I am not necessarily saying that supporters of 16 or 18 as a school-leaving age are prejudiced, but I do think we need to protect against prejudice by placing the burden of proof on those that advocate unequal treatment, not on those who advocate equal treatment. It is not an unconditional, of course, but we cannot legitimately claim to be a society of equality or democracy if the burden of proof is on those advocating equality, rather than being on those advocating inequality. By placing the burden of proof on the advocate of equality, you open up the hazardous possibility of unjustly discriminating against some group (e.g. Hispanics, Catholics, etc.) for no reason other than "Because I said so, and if you don't agree it must mean you don't understand the reasons". Sorry, that isn't good enough.
Having worked with children my entire adult life, I can honestly say you don't understand children.
Here in Ontario if a student quits school before they have a HS graduation certificate.......They can't get a driver's license until they get to age 21. Works very well.
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I like that idea!
Here in Texas, I didn't realize the age had increased to 19 ... it used to be 16.
I think it should at least be 18, because 16 is such a volatile age and by the age of 18 a little maturity has begun to awaken. Of course, there should be individual exceptions, depending on the reason the kid wants to drop out. But I love the idea of tying graduation to a driver's license.
They would rather have someone dependent on government welfare than to support themselves.
Kids graduating high school lack the experience/skills that employers want, which makes it hard for them to get a job. I was in that boat once. I graduated high school, and had a diploma, but the stuff I learned in high school isn't what employers wanted. I couldn't get a job even at McD's or Best Buy.
Anyone can start a business online that doesn't require huge costs. There's tons of examples on youtube. Just look at the "cash me outside" girl. Even though she had to appear on Dr. Phil for being abusive to her mother, she's on the road to making a million dollars. And she's only in middle school.
And that's something we would want our children to aspire to? I don't think so.
Having worked with children my entire adult life, I can honestly say you don't understand children.
Saudi Arabian men will tell you that they have been with women all their life and can honestly say you don't understand them if you think they should be able to vote or drive. Does that make them right?
We wouldn't need to finance a GED program if students remained in school until graduation. I would rather see some streamlined GED-like program as part of a regular school program, than a program at night hiring additional staff and administrators.
The legal age for dropping out of school ranges from 16-19 throughout the 50 states (Texas being the state where it's 19). In some countries in Europe, it's 14. What are your thoughts on the matter?
I may be wildly incorrect on this issue, but I wasn't aware of there being a legal age requirement in order to drop out of school. What's the punishment for dropping out of school if a kid drops out when they're underage? I've heard of kids dropping out of school in the US before the age of 16 plenty of times, and as far as I see, there are no legal repercussions to them doing this.
Not that I condone dropping out of school unless you have some kind of really good fallback plan, like Mark Zuckerberg with Facebook (for an extreme example).
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