The high school dropout rate

[FurryFury]

interesting, i had 2 kids and was married by the time i was 18. i stayed in school and graduated with my class.....actually i was due with my second child ON graduation day.

You are an exception to the norm. Good for you!

My Mom was also an exception. She had me when she was 17. Was thrown out of High School for being married and pregnant. Had to get her GED.

But she not only went on to get a college degree, she got a graduate degree as well. She rose high in her position and was good at what she did. In fact. she was an inspiration to many including me. Until my Dad died and the docs gave her drugs.

Sometimes when things go off track they make a person more determined to prove something and excel.

Sometimes people just give up and sink.

I'm glad you are excelling.

Fury

 

[lil_slave_rose]

You are an exception to the norm. Good for you!

My Mom was also an exception. She had me when she was 17. Was thrown out of High School for being married and pregnant. Had to get her GED.

But she not only went on to get a college degree, she got a graduate degree as well. She rose high in her position and was good at what she did. In fact. she was an inspiration to many including me. Until my Dad died and the docs gave her drugs.

Sometimes when things go off track they make a person more determined to prove something and excel.

Sometimes people just give up and sink.

I'm glad you are excelling.

Fury

actually these days i don't think i am the 'exception' at all. many many many children in my daughters school are pregnant but still going to school and still getting very high grades (my daughter is almost 14 years old btw and in the 7th grade) most of those kids that i know who are pregnant are in high school and not middle school. i'm not saying it 's a good thing, it's not, but it's the reality these days.

i wasn't kicked out of school for being pregnant, not completely, i was told i was welcome to continue school at the school i was already at but was encouraged to go to an 'alternative' school which was a much better place for 'girls like me' the dean of students at the high school i went to was a bitch. so i did leave that school and went to the alternative school, which is where i graduated from.

i also went 3 years of college, but ended up dropping out because i had a cheating husband and i was too worried about whether or not my kids were being taken care of while he was out running around on me, instead of being able to concentrate on school. obviously the route i chose was not an easy one by far, but i see more and more 'kids' choosing the same route these days (staying in school after getting pregnant/having a child) than i did when i was in school.....

 

[graceanne]

interesting, i had 2 kids and was married by the time i was 18. i stayed in school and graduated with my class.....actually i was due with my second child ON graduation day.

Their are always exceptions to every rule. I went to school with several girls who got pregnant in school - most of them finished school. But the attitude is a bit different here on the west coast. The highschool I went to has a free day care center for the mothers there. It also has some really good childcare classes for them.

People want to say that 'well this happened, and that's why I'm the way I am', but it's bull and people like you prove it. You could have just dropped out and stayed on welfare and given up. No one would have been surprised. But you wouldn't allow that, and you are to be commended.

 

[Xelebes]

That was how it was when I was in high school (lower-to-middle-class rural Alabama). I graduated in 2002 (I'm 23), and I'm one of the only people who graduated in that class of 50 who isn't married, who doesn't have kids, or both. I call myself an old maid by their standards...an old maid who's working on a master's degree and is planning on going to law school!

My dad's high school was similar - not on the marriage and kids part - but my dad was the only one to go to University from that school ever. It was a small rural school - all the kids were expected to keep the farms running.

My dad dropped out of the first year in University.

 

[BiBunny]

My dad's high school was similar - not on the marriage and kids part - but my dad was the only one to go to University from that school ever. It was a small rural school - all the kids were expected to keep the farms running.

My dad dropped out of the first year in University.

A handful of people in my class went to college. Most of them went to the local community college and didn't make it through their two years. I wasn't the only one to go to college, but I was the only one in my graduating class to get the hell out of Dodge and go straight to a four-year University. I couldn't stand the thought of living at home any longer, LOL.

 

[lil_slave_rose]

Their are always exceptions to every rule. I went to school with several girls who got pregnant in school - most of them finished school. But the attitude is a bit different here on the west coast. The highschool I went to has a free day care center for the mothers there. It also has some really good childcare classes for them.

People want to say that 'well this happened, and that's why I'm the way I am', but it's bull and people like you prove it. You could have just dropped out and stayed on welfare and given up. No one would have been surprised. But you wouldn't allow that, and you are to be commended.

*nods* the school that i transferred to (the alternative school) had a daycare, and parenting classes. even going to that school it was NOT easy. these days however (my daughter goes to the same middle/high school that i went to before the the alternative school) at my daughter's school they also have a daycare center attached to it now for students who have kids, and students are the ones who 'run' the daycare, of course there are adults who help out, but it's like a class they take.

and you're right, i very well could have (and alot of people thought it would) dropped out and given up, but that wasn't in me, just as giving up my child was not in me. i made the choices that lead to me getting pregnant, and it was me who needed to deal with the consequences, i wanted my child to have better than a mother who dropped out of school to care for her. which brings me to another point, everyone wants to blame parents for the problems that children have today, and i'll agree that some of the time that's the case. but not all of the time and not even close to all of the time. parents can only teach so much, and children make their own decisions even if they know the choice they are making wouldn't go over well with mom or dad. i had a GREAT mom and dad who did everything they could to teach me right from wrong and to guide me in the right direction, i CHOSE to go off that path on my own.

to blame the parents for drop out rates is ridiculous in my opinion because there is a whole lot more reasons why people drop out. a BIG part of the reason kids drop out, is bullies, being different is not accepted, being 'poor' is not accepted, these kids are teased and ridiculed daily, who would want to stay in school if they were tortured everyday they went? not me....that's for sure.....so it's not always as easy as blaming things on parents. the school and teachers themselves are not innocent of the reasons for the rates of dropouts either.....but i won't get into all of that because now i'm rambling because i'm tired....*smiles*

thank you gracie for you kind words, but there was no other option for me, i'm just not a quitter, and truly believe that if life gives you lemons you should defiantly make some REALLY GOOD lemonade instead of sitting around trying to lay blame on why you made the decisions you made.....ya know?

 

[FurryFury]

Parents should be close enough to their kids to know what is happening in school. When parents are close to thier kids, the kids will be able to talk with them, feel cared for and so on.

Kids need parents to set up a firm framework for their lives which, as they age and show responsibility can be loosened a bit in some areas. Other areas remain firm. Not unlike soft and hard limits. This too makes a child feel safe and secure. If a child doesn't feel this way they tend to seek that feeling in destructive ways.

Parents should provide alternatives to a school if their kids are miserable. There are a ton of alternatives.

There is no such thing as nothing parents can unless they haven't put the right things in place from the beginning. Then at a certain age and trouble level it may well be too late. If you haven't raised your kids with the principles of discipline and respect. It's going to be nearly impossible to get them to understand these things much less live by them when they are already running wild and angry. It's still worth a try though because that is what they need and truly want.

Also, parents should make birth and disease control paramount rather than the standard tripe about not having sex at all.

That's just my opinion.

Fury

 

[WriterDom]

People my parents age were more likely to quit school than my generation. It would have been totally unacceptable for me to quit. I didn't even entertain the thought.

But now almost half quit? What the hell is going on?

 

[graceanne]

*nods* . . .

to blame the parents for drop out rates is ridiculous

To some extent you're preaching to the choir here. I read somewhere that parents can neither take all the blame or all the praise for how their children turn out. At some point the children have to start taking responsibility for themselves. If you want to look at statistics, statistically(sp?) I should have been a drop out, myself. I should have been a drug addict, a drunk, and pregnant at 16, or so. That's how I was raised to be. *shrugs* I'll bitch along with the next person about a crappy childhood, but I've never allowed myself to make decisions based on it. I WILL BREAK THE FUCKING CYCLE.

 

[graceanne]

People my parents age were more likely to quit school than my generation. It would have been totally unacceptable for me to quit. I didn't even entertain the thought.

But now almost half quit? What the hell is going on?

Actually only half quit in those states. Over all only a little over a quarter quit.

 

[WriterDom]

Actually only half quit in those states. Over all only a little over a quarter quit.

Yeah but I'm in a dumb state. Can't you tell?

 

[graceanne]

Yeah but I'm in a dumb state. Can't you tell?

Um, er . . . Can I plead the fifth here?

 

[StarlitLillith]

I don't understand how teenagers cannot manage to take control of their own lives and make good choices. I was a victim of a broken home and had really two ways to go: to school or to drugs. I made the decision to be better than my parents and better myself as a person. I couldn't imagine being trapped in the cycle of drugs, jail, and the underworld.

 

[BiBunny]

I don't understand how teenagers cannot manage to take control of their own lives and make good choices. I was a victim of a broken home and had really two ways to go: to school or to drugs. I made the decision to be better than my parents and better myself as a person. I couldn't imagine being trapped in the cycle of drugs, jail, and the underworld.

Me neither, but I'm guessing it's because it's easier to blame others for your actions than it is to take responsibility for them. I dated a guy when I was an undergrad who was like that. He'd been in college for 8 years, couldn't keep a job, and dropped classes left and right. He was 30 years old and blamed his PARENTS for everything that happened to him. I'm glad I wised up and dumped his ass. Someone else can be his enabler!

 

[FurryFury]

Those who break the cycle are the ones that give hope to our society. It's all about choices, hard work and determination.

Good for you!

And us!

Fury