Kids who are 16 or 17 can legally drop out of high school if they have their parent(s) sign a form. With the exception of a few circumstances, I'm absolutely appalled that parents would agree to this. What are these kids (and parents) thinking will happen to them if they don't finish high school?

What would you say to your son/daughter/neice/nephew if they said "I want to drop out of school".

I think my response would be "over my dead body"!

 

I find this appalling as well. I mean IMO in this day and age, it's hard enough to make it comfortably with a college degree yet alone a high school diploma.

I mean the way American education is today doesn't even validate that a high school education is something substantial...

I wonder what these kids plan to do as a career/job? I don't think flipping burgers or bagging groceries really does much to pay rent on your own.

 

i agree with you....But kids that age are going to rebel when they have that type of mindset. I think parents do not try hard enough. Parents needs to set goals with their children and reward them when they succeed. Everyone needs something to work towards....even teens.

 

The ability of one success only lies within oneself. Your parents walk you to the door but yet you still have to walk thru it. Though many factors and variables to consider. Some parents probably feel like if you aren't going to do good in school and just wasting your time, why even bother? If you absolutely don't wanna go to school, why keep wasting your time? Sad to say but true for some people I know. Sometimes even if the parents doesn't sign the papers the kid can still "drop out" of school. Because he can just go and skip everyday. Go to school and sleep or just always get into trouble driving the parents nuts. In the ultimate end, if a human being doesn't want to do something he/she won't do it regardless how you put it to them.

Who knows though, maybe sometimes the kids need to learn it the hard way so the parent try and tell them but in the ultimate end if they don't listen. Then they just need to experience life for themselves so they can truly understand where and why their parents want them to stay in school.

-Alan

 

everyone I know who has dropped out has done so without their parents consent.

 

I have never admitted this publically before, but I will now. I dropped out of school at the age of 16. I'm 20 now. My parents and I fought about this for quite a few months until we agreed to some "ground rules" pertaining to my choices.

I think dropping out of school is a horrible choice for 99.9% of people, but I was/am very confident in myself, and what I can do. And I think I've accomplished a lot given the fact that I don't have a "formal education." (I own a brand new 250k house, S2000, etc).

I think there are always going to be exceptions to a lot of these types of scenarios.

 

My reply will be, "Go to your room!"

 

Yes, I agree that in certain cases, things work out for the best. I've taught a few students who were 16 or 17 and had to drop out due to extreme circumstances at their schools (mainly through harassments & threats made by classmates). They did well, but they're the exception to the rule. The majority of the 16 & 17 year olds who end up in GED programs do so because they're "forced" to do so.

One of the "incentives" in FL to staying in school is that you cannot get a driver's license if you've dropped out of school and if you have one already, it can be taken away. However, to a kid who doesn't care about driving, that so-called incentive means nothing.

 

places like CA have outrageous minimum wages in some areas. Hell, in LA grocery clerks make 17 an hour I think.

If you ask me, this only encourages "at risk" kids to drop out.

 

Some of those high wages are to balance out the higher cost of living.

You can go to Mcdonalds in Canada or the United States, and a "value meal" is about $5 in either country. The difference is our $5 isn't worth $5 US, but you get the same amount of food.

It just has to do with the cost of living in different areas.