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Comments on
Lawmaker: Require kids to stay in school until age 18
Posted Feb 1, 2013
Lauren Saria Cronkite News Service
Requiring all students under 18 to attend school unless given parental consent would empower parents and lower the state's dropout rate, a state lawmaker said. Under current law, students 16 and over can drop out without parental consent or knowledge, and some as young as 14 can leave school.
I didn’t finish high school. I was bored. Here in Tucson they seem to teach you everything you need to know by sixth grade, and then each succeeding year they keep repeating the same stuff over and over. I hope things are different with today’s generation, but back when I was in school the curriculum was just lunacy and seemed to be based on the old saying “If at first you don’t succeed, lower your standards”. Or maybe they based it off of “90% of success is just showing up”. I’ve seen some pretty stupid high school graduates who graduated just because they had good attendance.
My boredom combined with my being disrespected on a near-daily basis by many of my teachers who labeled me a discipline problem made the correct choice clear, in my case.
No sane person in the world would stay at a job where they were disrespected by their bosses and coworkers on a daily basis, and where the job itself was far below the person’s abilities, especially where the compensation was so low. I didn’t WANT to quit school, and there are some childhood experiences I missed out on that I wish I didn’t have to, but based on the set of circumstances I was presented with and the situation I was in I made the correct decision.
I think I’ve done pretty well for myself. I got my GED (one of the easiest things I’ve ever done in my life). I’ve got some college credits under my belt, and I make more money than many people I went to school with who did graduate. I even make more money than many of my peers with Bachelor’s degrees. I guess the only thing I missed in school was the lesson teaching the difference between “less” and “fewer”, right Dylan? :)
My point is that if there are kids in this generation, or future generations, who feel leaving school is right for them then they should have that option. Not everyone’s situation is identical, and you can’t make a law like this bill proposes to fit everyone. Education is important, absolutely. However, attending a public school that’s run like a prison is not the only option in the world for someone to get educated.
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1 comment on this story
I don’t support this bill at all.
I didn’t finish high school. I was bored. Here in Tucson they seem to teach you everything you need to know by sixth grade, and then each succeeding year they keep repeating the same stuff over and over. I hope things are different with today’s generation, but back when I was in school the curriculum was just lunacy and seemed to be based on the old saying “If at first you don’t succeed, lower your standards”. Or maybe they based it off of “90% of success is just showing up”. I’ve seen some pretty stupid high school graduates who graduated just because they had good attendance.
My boredom combined with my being disrespected on a near-daily basis by many of my teachers who labeled me a discipline problem made the correct choice clear, in my case.
No sane person in the world would stay at a job where they were disrespected by their bosses and coworkers on a daily basis, and where the job itself was far below the person’s abilities, especially where the compensation was so low. I didn’t WANT to quit school, and there are some childhood experiences I missed out on that I wish I didn’t have to, but based on the set of circumstances I was presented with and the situation I was in I made the correct decision.
I think I’ve done pretty well for myself. I got my GED (one of the easiest things I’ve ever done in my life). I’ve got some college credits under my belt, and I make more money than many people I went to school with who did graduate. I even make more money than many of my peers with Bachelor’s degrees. I guess the only thing I missed in school was the lesson teaching the difference between “less” and “fewer”, right Dylan? :)
My point is that if there are kids in this generation, or future generations, who feel leaving school is right for them then they should have that option. Not everyone’s situation is identical, and you can’t make a law like this bill proposes to fit everyone. Education is important, absolutely. However, attending a public school that’s run like a prison is not the only option in the world for someone to get educated.