What Are the Consequences of Dropping Out of High School?

LANCASTER, Calif., July 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Every year, more than 1.2 million students drop out of high school in the United States – that's 7,000 for each school day. While dropouts compose only 20 percent of the overall population, they make up 80 percent of state prison populations and commit 75 percent of crimes in the U.S. Dropouts are less likely to vote or to volunteer in their communities and are statistically more likely to have children who fail to complete high school.

Dropout Recovery Week, August 5-11, highlights programs that are working to break the dropout cycle. California-based Learn4Life offers a free high school diploma and job skills training to more than 40,000 of the state's most at-risk students each year. "Every dropout we save contributes to a safer community, with less poverty, joblessness, public services dependence and crime," explained Chris Hodge, chief academic officer.

Click to Tweet: Fact for #DropoutRecoveryWeek: More than 1.2 million high school students drop out each year. @Learn4Life changes that by breaking the dropout cycle with 1-on-1 attention, personalized learning and flexible hours.

Hodge points out that the potential implications of a decrease in the dropout rate are staggering — for every 10-percentage-point increase in the state's graduation rate, California's murder and assault rates could go down by as much as 20 percent, possibly preventing 400 murders and more than 20,000 aggravated assaults each year.

Most Learn4Life students enroll at 17 or 18 years old and are more than a year behind in credits. Many students deal with multiple obstacles that make it hard to succeed in traditional high school, such as poverty, hunger, homelessness, pregnancy, incarceration and special needs. Learn4Life has infused its model with trauma-informed practices and community partnerships to help students overcome these specific challenges so they can begin to learn.

"We provide one-on-one attention, personalized learning and flexible hours for students who have to work or take care of their children," Hodge added. "So many kids just need a bit more support, and they begin to gain self-confidence and flourish. Programs like this are changing lives."

Note: High-resolution photos available upon request.

MEDIA CONTACT
Ann Abajian, Learn4Life
844-515-8186
[email protected]

SOURCE Learn4Life

Related Links

http://www.learn4life.org