With A “Drop-Out” Crisis Does It Really Matter?

While I may not be President Obama’s biggest fan, I am a fan of young people finishing school. On May 5, 2009 cnn.com stated that almost 6.2 million students within the United States ages 16 to 24 dropped out of high school in 2007. This total was represented by 16 percent of all people in the United States that were in that age range during 2007.  According to a resource of CNN the highest percentage of dropouts were Latino or African-American.

Although I do not support all of President Obama’s ideas he is extremely influential.  Not only is he the President of the United States but also he is the first African-American President in the history of the United States. With that being said, when the first African-American President wants to give a back to school speech to the children who are the future of America, he gets criticized. While I know not every person disagreed with what his speech presented but rather the curriculum that backed his speech, I still believe it was more important for students to hear the positive words of reality and encouragement that he spoke.

In his speech, posted on the Huffington Post, (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/07/obama-speech-to-schoolchi_n_278763.html ) President Obama put it very well stating “You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.” It seems like now a days it takes at least a high school degree to get a decent paying job and with this economy a good job is much needed to survive. Our countries future depends on the path today’s students choose to follow.

President Obama also informed students that being successful is not an easy accomplishment. He stated that a lot of times television portrays getting rich and successful as being easy and effortless. As much as I believe it is important to set high goals and expectations for yourself, I also believe that it is important to be realistic. As a five year old I believe it is ok to dream of being an Olympic gold medalist, but as you age and are at the age where it is time to start thinking about graduation and plans for after, it is time to set realistic goals. I know there is no set age or grade where that mindset should take on, but if you ask me I think it should be around eighth grade.

President Obama was realistic with students and made it clear in his speech that for the majority of us our passport to success is not going to be through singing or acting or playing in the NFL. For example, I used to live in the small town of Opp, Alabama with a young man who believed he was God’s gift to baseball. Well while he was to the small town of Opp he was not to the rest of the world. This particular young man never focused on being realistic about life and did not focus on academics; after graduation he went to the University of Alabama with the intentions of being an instant star on the baseball team. Instead he was a walk on and because of his fury due to his lack of instant fame and unrealistic goals he dropped out of school and returned back home; he is currently working at his fathers local car dealership in the same small town.

As I stated previously, I may not be President Obama’s biggest supporter but I am supporter of students finishing school. In his speech though he was realistic and honest with our students and that is exactly what this country needs.

Sara Jacobi