-Must Be 18 to Drop Out

By C. Tavernier

The age of dropping out has just been changed. The new law called the Education Policy Improvement Act will raise the lowest age to drop out from sixteen to eighteen.

Gov. John deJongh Jr. vetoed the act the first time it passed on April 8, 2010, but the Senate overrode the governor’s veto and then it became a law on April 17, 2010. It will put a lot of pressure on the students, but it benefits them by making them take school more seriously, according to a student.

An obvious problem of this act is that you can’t force a student to stay in school. If the student is a troublemaker, how will the school deal with it? According to Assistant Principal Lueben L. Davis, “If they cause trouble, the school will not let any student follow them, and if they stay home, the school will send the family [information] about night school or something to make the student finish an education.”

“Life right now is getting harder, and they will need an education to get a job,” said one teacher at Kean High.

The governor also said that raising the age limit for a student to drop out of school would be appropriate only if alternative education programs are in place to help more students.(www.vi-archives.com/index.pl/article_home?id=1765399)

According to an English Teacher, Ms. T. Davis, “I do agree with the law; it will force them to stay in school to learn. And also if the school wants to keep the students in the school, they will need a more hands-on program that will help the students with the basics, such as reading, writing, math, etc in the first half, then in the second half they can take small engine, wood work, etc-- something to stimulate their minds and to keep them interested in learning.

“The school can’t do it alone; they will also need the parents to step in to help the students out,” Ms. T. Davis continued. “When the parents help out and the school does its part, that can lower the crime rate because when students are home, they do not have anything to do.… They can’t get a job unless they get an education.”

One students agrees, “When you are sixteen, you are just getting into high school, and you will need to set up a future for yourself,” according to Ronald Jackson.