With a society that thrives on wealth, now more than ever, it is important to receive the best education available. However, some students feel that this does not apply to them and do not obtain a high school diploma. The two main reasons for this dropout rate are school and family connections. Without these crucial connections, one can hardly be expected to succeed. The school connections at Lawrence High are awful, especially within the administration. Improving these conditions and student connections is the only way to reduce the number of dropouts.

More than one thousand students attend Lawrence High School everyday. This high number of students and low number of teachers imply large classes. The required courses are packed with students, meaning no one has a chance to talk one on one with the teacher. This also means that the teacher does not take the time to learn everyone’s name, even. The impersonalized atmosphere of the classroom does not make one feel welcome to learn; one also may feel that their attendance is not necessary. Likewise, with so many students, administration cannot get to know individual students. High school counselors are supposed to help guide students and assist in college admissions. However, at Lawrence High, counselors do not know names of students, their interests, or their plans for the future. The principal, too, does not know the majority of the students he governs over. For these reasons, the school system does not make students feel welcome and encouraged to stay in school.

Parents are the second leading cause in the high dropout rates. Families need to encourage their children to succeed in school and many do not. Without support and encouragements, students do not feel worthy of anything. Parents and family need to take the initiative in their children’s education. Whether it be looking at homework to check completion every night or merely asking how school went, parents of children not doing their best in school should care enough to ask.

The only way to lower the dropout numbers is to fix these two main causes. Schools need more teachers or a bigger variety of courses so everyone is not crammed into one. Counselors and school faculty should take the time to get to know students and make them feel worthy of being at school. Parents need to be more involved with a students’ life, especially taking time to praise their child for trying to succeed in school. Dropout statistics will dramatically decrease if these causes are solved. To continue to decrease numbers, smaller things should be done. Shortening the school day and year are starts to reducing the dropout numbers at Lawrence High.

Survival in the corporate world depends on education. No student should be given the opportunity to drop out of high school and suffer for the rest of their lives. However, the opportunity is there and many students decide to take it as an “easy” way out. Fewer students would act upon this prospect if schools were made more personal and individual students felt welcome. Another step would be towards parents taking the initiative in their child’s education. These are the top two reasons students feel the urge to drop out, and the numbers will significantly drop if these matters are taken into consideration.