November 04, 2016

Dear Mr. or Madam President,

As a high school student, I see first-hand the impact that the dropout crisis has on the economy as well as on the rest of society. You will not be able to lower unemployment rates if you do not first focus on keeping teens in school. The United States should adopt many of the measures that other countries have successfully employed in order to slow the dropout crisis.

Throughout the years, the dropout rate has continued to rise. There are many reasons students continue to drop out, such as issues at home and teenage pregnancies. What do we do to address this dropout crisis? Other countries have found ways to insure success. In Amsterdam, they pick up students in the streets to get them to school programs, thus making transportation a nonissue. In Norway, they have shortened vocational education programs by two years. Students do integrated work and learning programs. There is less of an excuse for dropping out.

If our country continues like this, the dropout rate will continue to rise. We need to take action before it’s too late. Once the dropout crisis is averted then we will be able to focus on the effects it had on our economy and the rest of society. The employment rates will go up because people will be getting better education. The poverty rates will drop because with a better education comes a better job, resulting in more money with which to support yourself and your family.

Some say the dropout crisis is a nonissue and that the teens that dropout have valid excuses. Well, I disagree. There should never be a reason for you to not have the proper education. If a teen is pregnant, there is online schooling. What about depression? Home schooling and online schooling are options for anyone. However, teens are required to be responsible in getting their work done. There is never a reason for a teen to completely drop out and give up on education.

If we were to implement these methods, our economy and employment rates would improve. Why would we do anything else?

Thank you for your time,

Lizzy T.

Works Cited

Bartos, Judeen, editor. “High Dropout Rates Negatively Affect Students and the Nation.” High Dropout Rates Negatively Affect Students and the Nation, 2011, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/viewpointsdetailspage/viewpointsdetailswindow?disablehighlighting=false&displaygroupname=viewpoints&currpage=&scanid=&query=&prodid=ovic&search_within_results=&p=ovic&mode=view&catid=&limiter=&display-query=&displaygroups=&contentmodules=&action=e&sortby=&documentid=gale|ej3010871202&windowstate=normal&activitytype=&failovertype=&commentary=&source=bookmark&u=tel_k_farrhs&jsid=b297dcf62543310a29cf8f8739f6273c.

Hoffman, Nancy. "America Should Emulate Other Countries in Addressing the Dropout Crisis." High School Dropouts. Ed. Judeen Bartos. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2013. At Issue. Rpt. of "Keeping Youths in School: An International Perspective." Phi Delta Kappan Feb. 2011: n. pag. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 3 Nov. 2016.