December 9, 2013

Michayla Berthiaume

ENGL 102

Toulmin Essay

November 13, 2013

Is the High School Dropout Age Set too Low?

            With the requirements for high school graduation becoming harder, more students find themselves wanting to dropout, but cannot based on society’s new view on education. A go to job for dropouts use to be McDonalds and other bottom of the barrel minimum wage jobs, but now even McDonalds is looking for employees with a high school diploma or GED. With these jobs, dropouts will never really advance themselves to a satisfying position or find a job that will support the dropout for the rest of their life. Students who make the decision to dropout are too young and naive to know what mistake they are making, which is why dropping out should not be as easy as turning sixteen and having their teachers sign a piece of paper. Most states have their dropout rate corresponding to their legal age of employment for the reason of having a second option. In today’s society, there is a stress on the importance of education rather than on employment for teenagers. Although many go on and find fortunes as a drop out, the number of successful dropouts is dwindling due to society valuing education and requiring at least a high school diploma or a General Educational Development (GED) for most jobs.

Having a high school diploma or GED is much more crucial to a successful career then it was twenty years ago because the U.S is advancing at a much faster pace, and students must be prepared for jobs that have not even been discovered yet. Currently, there are very few people who can go on making a fortune, such as with trades, without a high school education. According to Richmond, data reported that in 2010-2011 1.8 million young adults (which, not surprisingly, includes a disproportionate percentage of minorities) have left school without a diploma (“High School Graduation Rate Hits 40-Year Peak in the U.S”). Of those 1.2 million—66 percent—are not working (Richmond). The main reason those 66 percent are not working, is because they are either too lazy to get a job or cannot get a job because places value education more now than ever. That 66 percent will someday have a minimum wage job, but with minimum wage being so low, one day when the former dropout has a place to live and a family, the government will have to support them to live. Where the money comes from to support the welfare programs is the money that comes out of taxes of the working class who went ahead and got an education and a real job.

There are only 6 out of 50 states that have a minimum wage over eight dollars and only Washington state has their minimum wage over 9 dollars. All other states must at least reach the U.S federal wage baseline of $7.25 (CNN Money). Even if the high school dropout were fortunate enough to live in one of those states that has a pay of over 8 dollars an hour and working maybe 50 weeks of the year, before taxes they would only make roughly 2,900 dollars. This might work for someone who has no kids, no house of their own and no bills to pay. Once these factors begin to come into play, there is no way to live successfully off a salary of 2,900 dollars per year. There is no chance of horizontal or vertical mobility in minimum wage jobs and there is only a certain level of ranking that can be reached. The median income of a person aged 18 through 65 who had not completed high school was roughly $24,000 in 2007. By comparison, the median income of persons ages 18 through 65 who completed their education with a high school credential, including a General Educational Development (GED) certificate, was approximately $40,000 (High School Dropout Rates:2007).

As a current college student I have struggled earning enough money to pay my car insurance, simple living expenses, and having money for fun. I am in college now, with a high school diploma because I know from experience what I have to do to someday have a house, kids and be able to live a comfortable life. My mother never went to college due to having a child in her teenage years, but because she had a high school diploma and enjoyed working with numbers she was given an opportunity at an insurance office. From there, she was able to build her career. However, even now that she makes a decent living for herself she wouldn’t be paid the same amount as another person with the very same position who has a college degree.

            Just like it showed of my mother, those who at least have a high school diploma show that they can handle and complete a major challenge in their life. More jobs will be willing to take a person with no post-secondary option over someone without even a high school diploma. It can show something about an individual’s character that as soon as something gets tough or they get sick of it, quitting is the first option. Employers are looking for loyal and dedicated workers that will not have to worry about their employees leaving at any moment. If there are no other means of an education, at least a high school diploma or a GED must be obtained. The nation's high school graduation rate is approaching 75 percent, its highest rate in 40 years (Emily Richmond). Just since 2000 there has been an 8 percent increase in graduates, this is showing how valued our education is becoming and students are realizing they need to stay in school.

            Students who are sixteen years old are not nearly as mature as they think in making a life changing decision as to drop out of school. They are still under their parents rule with close to zero responsibilities, especially money based responsibilities. As of October of 2013, Eighteen other states and the District of Columbia already set the minimum dropout age at 18, the other states set the maximum age of mandatory attendance at 16 or 17 (Adrienne Lu). Massachusetts is one of the last states to consider raising the drop out age to 18 in an effort to improve graduation rates. Most high school students do not turn 18 until their senior year or sometime after they graduate from high school. If they can keep kids in school until their senior year or close to the very end of senior year, hopefully students will choose to graduate rather than dropout with less than a year left.

Although, this will surely raise the graduation rate, it could cause more problems for schools internally. If students can’t get out of school when they want too, they take up class time being disruptive causing other students to not be able to learn. It will also cause administration to be focusing all their time on the delinquent kids rather than the school as a whole. Not all kids are meant for school or learning in that type of structured environment. Unfortunately, it does not just come down to the well-being of the student that officials are looking out for. Democratic state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz said, “We have 70 percent of our jail and prison population as people who have dropped out of high school,” adding that 70 percent of jobs in the near future will require some postsecondary education. “If we are not graduating all of our students, we are setting ourselves up for some serious economic problems down the road” (Adrienne Lu). Once the drop out age is made higher, problems of dropouts will be solved economically in the future.

The problem is to make the step towards keeping students in school long enough to graduate, but raising the age will do just that.

Times have changed since the establishment of the dropout age, there is now more of a stress on education rather than a job. That is why sixteen is not an appropriate age to dropout. It is crucial for the student to be at least eighteen to make a responsible decision about how they will support themselves financially, and have a chance at obtaining a job that will not be paying minimum wage. The dropout rate has decreased as students themselves have realized the importance of education and the demand for an education for jobs that have not even been created yet. If students do not go on to get a college education, at least a high school diploma or GED is necessary to withhold a job to support themselves for the rest of their life.

           

Works Cited

"High School Dropout and Completion Rates in in the United States:2007." Institute of Education Sciences. U.S Department Of Education, n.d. Web. <http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009064.pdf>.

"High School Dropout Statistics." Statistic Brain RSS. N.p., 28 Apr. 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://www.statisticbrain.com/high-school-dropout-statistics/>.

Lu, Adrienne. "The Pew Charitable Trusts." The Pew Charitable Trusts. N.p., 11 Oct. 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://www.pewstates.org/projects/stateline/headlines/massachusetts-debates-raising-school-dropout-age-to-18-85899511781>.

Richmond, Emily. "High School Graduation Rate Hits 40-Year Peak in the U.S." The Atlantic. N.p., 6 June 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/high-school-graduation-rate-hits-40-year-peak-in-the-us/276604/>.

"Training & Education." :: McDonalds.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/careers/training_education.html>.

"2013 Minimum Wage, State by State." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://money.cnn.com/interactive/pf/state-minimum-wage/>.