Graduating high school has been one of my greatest achievements to date. My high school diploma is even on display in my bedroom at home. However, every day thousands of high school students make the decision to discontinue their education and drop out of school completely.
The legal dropout age in most states is 16 or 17, when most students are in their sophomore or junior year of high school. According to a 2009 report by the Alliance for Excellent Education, approximately 1.2 million high school students fail to graduate each year. About one third of these students drop out during their freshman year.
According to the same 2009 report, high school dropouts earn on average about $260,000 less than a high school graduate in their lifetime. In addition to lower income, people who drop out of high school automatically limit themselves from most professions.
In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama gave the state legislatures an ultimatum. “So tonight, I call on every State to require that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn eighteen,” the President said.
Rep. Daniel Patterson (D) of Tucson has introduced a bill that would increase Arizona’s legal dropout age from 16 to 18. Currently, Arizona is one of 18 states that allow students to drop out when they are 16 years old.
"Our kids deserve a better opportunity, and so I don't think we should make it so easy to drop out," said Patterson, according to The Arizona Republic. "If you talk to people who have dropped out, they say it was the worst mistake of their lives."
Raising the age at which a student may dropout from 16 to 18 not only allows students to further their education, but it also gives them more time to decide if dropping out is what they really want. Having a high school diploma may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but in reality having a diploma is necessary for most careers, even those that don’t require a college education. It’s the first step.
In addition to raising the dropout age, teachers should be more involved in helping students succeed. If a teacher notices that a student is struggling in class they should take a more proactive role in trying to help the student, instead of allowing the student to fail or to give up hope. Communication is often the key to helping students succeed. Raising the dropout age won’t be in vain if teachers do their part too. If students receive the help they need, perhaps they won’t want to give up and drop out.
It may take awhile for all states to change the dropout age to 18. However, this simple change may be the key to decreasing the amount of high school dropouts and promoting academic success in America.
Reach the columnist at agales@asu.edu
Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
