By Kailey Davis
Nearly 38% of all high school dropouts are now living in poverty. For a nation that seems to be obsessed with fixing the socioeconomic injustices of our society, this number should be startling.
America obsesses over the discrepancies between the rich and the poor. As a nation, we pose questions to our presidential candidates centered on how they will bridge the gap, how they will mend the broken pieces of our society that are struggling and poverty stricken. But the problem does not need a formula or a financial equation, it needs human emotion.
We gawk over the financial statistics but we fail to be stirred by all the moving pieces that fall under it.
“7,000 students dropping out each day
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With close to 7,000 students dropping out each day, a study from the Alliance for Excellent Education predicts that nearly 12 million students will drop out of school in the next ten years. According to the US Department of Education, in a given year, each of these dropouts will make nearly $8,000 less than their graduate counterparts.
These numbers are astounding, yes, but what is even more astounding is the overall failure to recognize these numbers for what they truly are – human beings. Dropout students are more than a statistic we want to change; they are daughters, brothers, friends and neighbors. These people are valuable members of our community, and just like anyone else, they too have goals they want to achieve. These statistics are people aspiring to accomplish more than their level of education allows room for in a performance-based society.
How is a student expected to succeed when they are not provided with the necessary resources?
Students need to be connected to a community of support between parents, teachers, and administrators. Let us be the ones to create that caring community.
Outside of school many students face financial struggles and emotional heartbreak that affect them inside the classroom. They need to be cared for through ongoing evaluations and integrated services like counseling, mentoring, tutoring, college visits, and food banks. Let us be the ones to integrate these services.
Personal, one-on-one relationships with an invested adult have been proven to impact performance within the classroom. When students feel cared for and supported both their confidence and performance levels shoot up. Let us be the ones to show support.
“ Let us be the ones to restore hope.
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We need to become a people that exists to instill hope into the lives of children so that they may be able to discover and act upon their own potential. Let us be the ones to restore hope.
Let us be the ones to meet students where they are at so that they may feel capable and equipped to succeed.
Let us be the ones to empower our daughters, brothers, neighbors, and friends.
Let us be the ones who are startled by the astounding correlation between high school dropouts and poverty.
Let us be the ones to move beyond the financial statistic.
Nearly 38% of all high school dropouts are now living in poverty. For a nation that seems to be obsessed with fixing the socioeconomic injustices of our society, this number should be startling.
Let us be the ones to fix it.