The High School Dropout Rate - 1430 Words

1. If society were to reduce the local high school dropout rate, then I believe that society could progress rapidly with more skilled thinkers in the workforce. When a student drops out of high school, he or she is far less likely to succeed. This is due to the fact that most, if not all, skilled jobs that earn a decent living salary require a high school diploma at the very least. By decreasing the local high school dropout rate, our society would be giving those would be dropouts an opportunity to succeed and earn a higher position in society. There is currently a decline in the high school dropout rate, however this decline is very slight and would hardly be noticeable in the short term. The reasons as to why high school students†¦show more content†¦The current situation of high school students dropping out has been steadily declining since the early 1990’s. This could serve society very well if that trend continues to a point where dropping out of high school become relatively unheard of. A social dysfunction of high school is that it creates a class system between those with a high school diploma and those without one. The manifest function of high school is to provide people with the skills and critical thinking ability to obtain some type base level skilled work as well as provides a way to help keep kids safe and out of trouble. In contrast, a high school dropout would have none of those functions and would likely not be employed in skilled work and as a result might have to turn to criminal activit ies for an income. I do not believe that there is any group that benefits from high school students dropping out. People who drop out of high school will usually have to rely on government subsidies, which in turn will burden the general population due to higher taxes. I believe that if the high school dropout rate were to be less than one percent, then society would progress more rapidly due to more skilled thinkers in the workforce. One of the ways that this could be done is by addressing what I believe to be the main cause of dropping out which is a lack of academic support. If students who appeared to be struggling were given more tutoring and after school educational programs, then they might not feel