The Lincoln Log

The frequency of high school dropouts is still increasing. Many students are failing to get an education because they are not attending school on a regular basis – or even worse, not going to school at all. The question is, why do students decide to take free education for granted?

“School starts so early, sometimes they give too much homework, and I have stuff to do after school, and plus, I need to work,” said sophomore, Lien Nguyen.

Some students consider dropping out of school because they don’t feel it applies to them, while others say it’s tedious and redundant.

“At this point, kids drop out because they don’t have enough credits, or they’ve run out of time and they can’t make up classes anymore,” said senior class councilor, Gabriela Rodriguez.

The root of these problems still remains a mystery.

“They [students] get distracted by other things, whether it’s video games or needing a job or even fear,” said dean Joel Balzer.

Contrary to popular belief, being out of school does not constitute a simpler life. In fact, it can lead to consequences that impact both the student and the community negatively. Criminal law experts call truancy the most powerful root of juvenile crime. Based on research, over the last four years, ninety-four percent of San Francisco’s homicide victims under the age of twenty-five were high school dropouts. Research has proven that an increase in graduation rates is closely linked to the decrease of murder rates.

Besides a society’s safety, high school dropouts can experience harsh effects of leaving school and not earning a diploma.

“There’s going to be a lot of personal and academic consequences,” said PACT advisor Oriol Zales. “If you drop out, you’re going to have less opportunities because you won’t have a high school diploma, and more importantly, an education in the sense of having formal structure that gives you skills and foundation, the networking that you need to go to the next steps in life that society says you need to have.”

Furthermore, these consequences can reach the school. Losing students can lead to funding loss from the district, which can cause loss of certain programs. It can also socially impact the community negatively. If the school is losing students, then the people outside might think that something’s wrong and no one would go and enroll to the school. In addition, parents who fail to meet the obligation of keeping their child at school may be guilty of a crime and can be legally subjected to prosecution. On the contrary, there are ways to prevent these situations.

“Talk with adults that they know, like the Wellness Center, counselors, or even in the College Center, teachers, or another adult that’s either related to them or they feel comfortable with to ask them for help to find out what kind of activities or resources that they can take advantage of to make alternative choices,” said Zales.

Looking for some information and help in an open minded way can contribute to finding the solutions a person might need to make decisions.

“Students who are cutting class are so caught up in their own issues that they aren’t thinking in a long term sense,” said Balzer. “If you think long term, about suffering through whatever you’re suffering through in school, and actually show up to class, the benefits – even if just getting a high school diploma – are amazing.”