Introduction
Receiving higher education is an important step in life of every person. High school is also a kind of valuable experience that allows a person to think over future professional perspectives and define how it can help him/her understand which professional and intellectual paths to take. However, facing the challenges that other people encounter when dropping school discourages other people to make important decisions in difficult situations.
Specifically, reluctance to learn can lead to unpredictable consequences in life. My personal experience and encounter with other people who gave up their education proves that lack of ambitions and goals in life can deprive a person of professional fulfillment and personal realization in various spheres of life. Certainly, general phrases will not impress anybody and, therefore, I decided to elaborate on my personal experience and a person who changed my outlook on education system, as well as the rules triggering individuals’ decision to give up studying.
Main body
At the current moment, I study at Arizona high school. So far, studying at school was not a big deal for me because of ignorance of future perspectives for my personal and professional growth. However, I have two brothers who have had a great influence on my growing awareness of the necessity to continue my education. I was aware of the fact that Arizona laws permit to drop out studying as soon as you are 16 years old. This legal procedure played a bad joke with my brothers who decided to leave school. They made a difficult choice to hire for a job and gain experience in leading an independent life.
However, independence at this early age is not always an advantage. Adolescents do not always behave in a reasonable way because of difficult psychological, social, and emotional factors. There are always occasions when teenagers escape from the learning environment because of bullying, or because of difficulties in communication with peers. In such a manner, they lost a chance to think of their future and professional prospects. They also lose a chance to look at their live from another angle. Probably, my elder brother could have opened his restaurant business because of his incredible leadership and management skills, but lack of education did not allow him to move further.
Now, the fate discouraged him and made him spend 8 months in jail. Now he does work at restaurant, but as a waiter. Probably, he could have had a brilliant opportunity to fulfill himself and take up a course on business management. I am still hoping that he will pull himself together and take a second chance. There are many other possibilities to study and take part-time jobs. Unfortunately, he is the eldest brother and he was the only one to rely on while making difficult decisions. However, I believe that better educational and social programs could reverse the mistake made by my brother.
Sometimes, somebody else’s mistakes allow other people to change their mind and take another path of personal development. So did I. Because of my brother’s experience, I realized that education provides an access to better life in case you are ambitious enough to advance your skills and abilities in a specific academic area, should it be restaurant management or nursing. Studying at school is a kind of extension for an adult life.
Being a teenager, there is no guarantee that you are psychologically and emotionally mature to make difficult decisions and take responsibilities for your life. So, giving up school at the age of 16 is not reasonable because it is almost impossible to find a prestigious job at this age. Therefore, learning in high schools should be obligatory for all teenagers irrespective of state, social status, and material level. A person should feel support on the part of parents and teachers to be able to understand what he/she wants to do in life. Otherwise, it is possible to face a difficult situation as my brothers did.
Elementary and fundamental stages of studying should be available to all people irrespective of statuses and nationalities. It will help young people understand the value of education. More importantly, education is a powerful tool for receiving the access to intellectual freedom and education. The educational establishment, therefore, should be storehouse of knowledge, experience, and information for students to draw inspiration for personal advancement. Teachers must be perceived as guides of knowledge and protectors of individual goals and concerned expressed by their students. Such an ideal of an educational system should have been presented in our state.
Then, my brothers would not have dropped their studies. Some might say that my brothers could have stayed as students to continue their professional path, but their self-confidence or reluctance became major obstacle to better future. Now my younger brother is 18. He has no job and no place to live. Unlike me, he followed our elder brother’s example and stop thinking about education. Still, I do not quite understand why my brother was so overwhelmed with the desire to leave education.
He was so young to make such important decisions, but being so critical about it made me think that something was wrong with the school environment and teaching approaches. We are best friends and he always tells me about everything that is going on in his life, but this time the decision he made was unpredictable for me.
There is an assumption that a 16-year-old person is not emotionally ready to lead an independent life and make a decision to drop out school. However, leaving schools contributes to reducing your chance to enrich life with interesting knowledge and experience. Probably, lack of incentives proposed by school program does not allow the adolescents to understand the actual benefits of learning, for instance, chemistry, conduct researchers, or at least learning something (Bohannon-Kaplan 17).
I can also admit that parents’ influence is not of the least importance in this situation, but counselors should be able to apprehend the teenagers and make them suspend their decisions. There should be a much consistent framework that would influence the behavior and actions that teenagers reveal rashly. High percentage of teenagers leaving school indicates low level of care and teachers’ awareness of the problem. They should be more concerned with their future and design specific courses and classes dedicated to communication and understanding of teenagers’ behavioral patterns. Finally, they should become more aware of the major factors triggering difficult teenagers to give up courses.
The emergence of new social programs both in education and outside it could have helped my brothers correct their mistakes and improve their lives. They are young and talented enough to proceed with learning and advancing their skills. Besides, my elder brother has realized that life has not ended yet and there is still an opportunity to change their future. As per my younger brother, I will do my best to become a model for him so that he realized that receiving education is not the worst choice that he can make. As a proof, I graduated from school and joined the navy. Education made my dreams come true.
However, it is not all about education, but about an attitude to it. Recently, I have looked through a book to learn more about teenagers’ behavior so as to be able to help my brothers think over the benefits that education can propose. Specifically, I have come across some useful recommendations that could have been applied in our school. Benson’s research shows, “according to a recent nationwide survey of more than 218000 students in grades 6-12, 50 percent support nighttime community curfews for teens” (170). This would have been the best option for my brother.
Recollecting the past experience of my brothers, as well as looking at the current possibilities in education provide me with the hope that everything can be changed for the better. Though my brothers had a bad experience, I am still grateful to them for the conclusions I made for myself. Creating a positive atmosphere and develop positive thinking are priorities in introducing a new educational and development programs in schools and other educational establishments (Nelsen and Lott 24). Students should not be afraid of the challenges waiting for them in schools. On the contrary, they should be in anticipation of something unknown, but definitely interesting.
Unfortunately, the current Arizona laws do not foresee any changes in educational programs because the government expects teenagers to become much more independent. On the one hand, such an option is effective for youth to define whether they are ambitious and strong enough start life without proper education. On the other hand, it is necessary to define whether the reasons adolescents leave schools are connected with teachers’ approaches or not. So, if no changes are ensured in an academic field, further improvements should provide outside it. In particular, there should be specific social programs designed to encourage teenagers to advance their professional skills and upgrade knowledge in a specific scientific sphere. Once again, my brothers made me understand the importance of introducing such programs.
I feel sorry for my brothers not having open up their interests, potentials and problems. The current programs existing in other states, however, could have changed their future and have provided them with new visions and perspectives for advancing their skills. This is of particular concern to my elder brother who could have learnt about techniques to suppress his rebellious spirit and think over further steps of self-fulfillment.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I should admit that my brothers’ experience is valuable for me because it allowed me to estimate my changes for successful professional future without education. They also made me change my outlook on the importance of education lives of teenagers. In particular, I have realized that education is not just about learning various subjects; it is also a school of life where teachers and counselors show us how to behave in an appropriate way and make importance decisions. Finally, my brothers made me take a closer look at the gaps in existing education because better educational and social programs would allow my brothers reassess their lives and continue their education. Intellectual freedom is a key to successful professional accomplishment.
Works Cited
Benson, Peter L. What Teens Need to Succeed. US: ReadHowYouWant, 2009. Print.
Bohannon-Kaplan, Margaret. Youth Apprenticeships: What Teens Want. US: Wellington Publications, 2008. Print.
Nelsen, Jane and Lynn Lott. Positive Discipline for Teenagers. US: Prima Pub. 1994. Print.