Drop Out in the United States of America - Free Essay Sample

Introduction

Education has been regarded as one of the key factors that help in human transformation in society. In the United States, we have both public and private schools that enroll students at different levels of the education ladder. Over the years, the number of the student enrolling and graduating has been increasing in private schools while in public schools the number of enrolling students does not match that of graduating students (Clark, 2019). Public schools have been characterized by student drop out, low funding, and many hours in school. A case study on Apollo school in Texas showed many of the reasons that justified the high number of students drop out of school.

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Key Issues

Many of the parents are never concerned with their children's welfare and progress in life. A good example is Marcus's parents who are always busy and drunk and therefore, many students are left to make decisions on their own without being guided by their family members.

The school system in public schools is not concerned with how the students are doing and few teachers get involved in the personal level of students to help them stay in school and graduate. The Apollo school had to do it differently and break barriers to achieve a significant number of graduating students.

There is also a social breakdown in the way children are raised. Young girls are exposed to early motherhood and many cases of indiscipline, drug abuse, and disrespectful students. This was highly contributed by a lack of mentors in the society they live in, such makes them have to break from school to raise the child or even drop out. The number of professional teachers is low regarding the high number of students. In such a scenario, less attention or quality education is offered to all the students.

The low income amongst families has contributed to many students engaging in part-time jobs to sustain life and make it time to school. Therefore, some students end up being depressed and also miss some classes. A good example was that all four students under study were in one way trying to work and earn some money.

Lastly, the budget allocation from the state governments to the public education sector is low, this has contributed to various constraints in managing the welfare of the school. When Apollo school applied for extra funds some government officials complained that the money getting wasted. A clear indication that their value for education was minimal.

Manifest Function

The documentary highlights the manifest function that motivates students to go to school, like football for the case of Marcus who enjoyed being in school since he will play football. Also, the students can learn financial management from their tutors. On latent functions, the students can learn how to make career choices in life. Also, the documentary highlights the missing different activities that can motivate students.

School Dropout

The documentary highlights the various inequalities that may lead to school dropout as a social disadvantage from the society the students were coming from. For example, missing parents or guardians, negatively influencing friends, stress, poverty, and drug abuse. Social class becomes a factor as a result of a student missing some of the basic needs like shelter as it is witnessed in the Sparkle case. The well up students could join private schools and finish their studies in a short time, whereas students from poor backgrounds could only afford public schools where they were forced to repeat their classes upon failing which contributed them to take long in school and therefore drop out.

Conclusion

In the symbolic interactionist, labeling a student dropout may lead to a student not willing to get associated with the school or those in school. Such pronunciation may either contribute to the positivity of the person going back to school and prove the term wrong or withdraw fully and never go back to school. Those who withdraw fully end up engaging in crimes and other social ills.

References

Clark, D. A. (2019). Johann N. Neem. Democracy’s Schools: The Rise of Public Education in America; Robert N. Gross. Public vs. Private: The Early History of School Choice in America. The American Historical Review, 124(1), 257–259. https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhy424