Causes of High School Dropouts

There are many causes of high school dropouts, but a person who leaves school early will find that his or her options for the future are severely limited.

Getting a diploma means more options for young people.

Students who come from low income families are more likely to leave high school before graduation. Having a disability (physical, intellectual, or emotional) also means that a young person is at increased risk for dropping out. According to the National Transition Study, up to 36.4 percent of young people with disabilities fail to graduate.

Poor attendance is the start of a slippery slope toward dropping out of school. Once a student starts to fall behind in their studies, they may find it difficult to catch up. The lower self-esteem that results from not being able to keep up can also mean that the student is tempted to give up on school altogether.

The ethnic group that a young person belongs to also plays a part in their risk of dropping out of school. Hispanic students are at greater risk of becoming dropouts than either African Americans or whites.

When young people who left school before graduating were asked why they did so, some common themes were reported.

• Pregnancy was one of the reasons cited by young girls for leaving school.
• Young men and women who became parents stated that was why they did not finish their education.
• Early marriage may mean that a person will not stick around long enough to gradate either.

• When work interferes with school work, it can be tempting for a young person to choose a regular pay check over an education.
• In some situations, the young person needs to find a job to help support his or her family.
• Being offered a job is another reason for leaving school early.

• Kids who don't like school are not very motivated to stay.
• Failing grades were given as a reason for dropping out by some teens.
• Personality conflicts with teachers may also push students out the door of high school.

No matter what the causes of high school dropouts are, there are definite consequences to leaving school before graduating.

Long gone are the days when a young person could get a good-paying job without finishing high school. A diploma is becoming a prerequisite for a number of entry-level jobs. If you are planning on going on to college or university, you need to have a high school diploma first.

A person who has dropped out of school is more likely to be unemployed than a high school graduate. If they are able to find work, it will be relatively low paying and offer little, if any, opportunity for career advancement. High school dropouts are more likely than graduates to be on public assistance.

According to statistics published by the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network, three-quarters of inmates in state prison in the United States are high school dropouts. In the case of inmates serving time in federal institutions, the percentage is 59 percent. An individual who didn't finish high school is 3.5 times more likely to be arrested at some point during their lifetime.

If the overall graduation rate for high school students were to increase by only one percent, it would result in a $1.4 billion savings in the cost of keeping offenders incarcerated.

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