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What do you think of this possible reason for dropouts?
Quote:
In the struggle to keep students from dropping out of school, UGA researchers are finding that how a student views time and rewards play key roles in why some students quit on their educations.
We test them to death, add more curriculum and take away electives and drop the PE requirement in H.S. from 4 years to 2 years; make them pay fees to play sports and join clubs; and on top of that implement block schedule where kids go to each class for 2 hours a period---Tues/Thurs odd periods---Wed/Fri even periods...can you find any 15-18 year old that can sit through that mess?
1. They don't see the value in a HS education.
2. It's more fun to hang out in the park or to stay home and play video games.
3. Drugs.
4. Baby.
5. They've never experienced success at school.
6. They got a part time job and decided work was better than school.
7. You don't need a HS education to succeed in a gang.
8. Their friends told them school wasn't cool.
There are so many reasons like if one is not interestedi in perticular subject he may not study which leads him to drop out or there may be other psycological issues.
It's a complicated problem. There are no simple answers. For many students the "living large" lifestyle they see on TV appears to be easily obtained without an education or hard work. The reality is often far different but less interesting.
I'm not surprised by the author's findings. I have posed a similar scenario to my math students in talking about percentages, interest, etc. I asked them what they would do if they were offered $100 today or a guaranteed $1000 if they were willing to wait a year? I then asked them how many would be willing to wait 10 years for $100,000 instead (about the time someone would be graduating from college). Not surprisingly, many of the students in the disadvantaged group wanted the $100 now even after being reassured that in this hypothetical scenario there would be no chance they wouldn't receive the guaranteed amount since it was being set aside in an account for them. It's hard to convince someone who perceives their immediate needs are not being met that waiting is better.
These findings are not all that different from how a large part of our population live their lives in the US.
Last edited by Lincolnian; 01-15-2011 at 08:41 AM..
Why they drop out is fairly simple, they are not engaged in the education process and see no point in it. The harder thing is to make students engaged. Dropping out is a symptom not the issue because there are many, many kids not engaged in the learning process but still sitting in school everyday.
I agree with that. I think that actually working partime and then full time in summer taught me more about the world than just some slogans.It agve me a goal for wehat I wanted in life really.
When I ask my students what their goals for the future are, many of the boys will reply, "To live another day."
When you see the "future" as just the next 24 hours, it's a challenge to change your mindset to planning for the next 24 years. Many of my boys fully expect to die young and go to Hell or go to prison and join their friends and family who are already there. It doesn't seem to occur to them that they can choose another path.
We test them to death, add more curriculum and take away electives and drop the PE requirement in H.S. from 4 years to 2 years; make them pay fees to play sports and join clubs; and on top of that implement block schedule where kids go to each class for 2 hours a period---Tues/Thurs odd periods---Wed/Fri even periods...can you find any 15-18 year old that can sit through that mess?
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