To Graduate, or Not to Graduate?

Let's look at high school completion rates. The United States and the District of Columbia took a poll to see what percentage of 18 to 24 year olds in their areas have a high school diploma. This was matched with the previous poll to yield these results.

10 states in our union did better, and had an increase of young adults with high school diplomas. 37 of our states had no change in the number of young adults with high school diplomas. 4 states actually did worse, and had a smaller number of young adults with high school diplomas.

I have heard so many people in my area that are willing to let their kids drop out if the kid has a chance at a steady job, such as construction or retail that they feel their child will benefit from now rather than waiting another year or two to get a diploma before they start to work full time. I blame the economy for this type of thinking. People rarely stay where they start. This kind of thinking can lead to disillusionment if this job doesn't hold out, then they have no high school diploma to get another type of job. They miss graduating with their friends and having similar experiences to their same age peers. In their teens, two years DOES make a big difference! The maturity level between 16 and 18 is observable.

This would seem to me more of a top priority, than to push through healthcare reform that sounds like it would once again, create hardship for the poverty level Americans. Jobs are hard to find around here. My oldest son got beat out at a job at Wendy's by a man who I'd say was 60 if he was a day, and had lost his other job. Where are young people supposed to find a stable job without an education these days?! You can guess that the states that did better are up in the North and East. Progression seems to travel North to South and East to West in this country. The states that did worse, yea, you guessed it, in the South and Mid-West. Panic has driven young adults to jump on the first steady job they land and not finish school. Parents having job problems themselves have a hard time telling their kids to finish school. Sometimes they even need their children's income to help run the household. But, people rarely do stay where they start. I read that the average person changes jobs about 4 times. So that steady job of today, can be gone tomorrow. Experience does count in some jobs, but alot of employers want to see that high school diploma to feel confident that the job candidate can read and write well enough to perform their job duties. High school is a rite of passage. That's what the graduation ceremony is all about. You leave your life as a child behind, and become a young adult. I heard a woman who dropped out and got married and started having kids at 17 say, " Once I moved in with him, and we started having kids, it was all a blur. I still felt like a kid sometimes. His mom was great, and I'd call her for advice and if it wasn't for her, I'd have probably killed myself. I was a kid with four kids by the time I was 21. There was no graduation, prom, college, even going out to bars with friends, because I was a wife and mother. I felt old by the time I was 21."
This person had reasons why they left home and got married, and why her own mother let her do so. But, she still had a really hard time of it, and had major bouts of depression, a few of which landed her in the hospital. I can't swear that had she graduated and had a good counselor who had gotten her into business school when she was 18, instead of her finally doing that for herself when she was 33, that things would have been different for her, but I honestly think that they would have. I have heard too many stories of people who have struggled so much by trying to be "on their own" too early, and have had to endure hardships and failures, that maybe, if they had been better prepared for adult society, they wouldn't have experienced. Parents, think twice about allowing your working child to drop out. They do miss out. Teens, go with the natural flow of things, and get that diploma. It will pay off in the end.

Until next blog!

Angelia
www.worksofheart.bravehost.com