I'm thinking about dropping out of high school. Advice?

Question

I'm a smart student and for the most part did well in school as a kid, I have plenty of friends and a great life, but school hasn't been working for me. Its not like I'm a slacker or anything, but the way the school system is set up is driving me crazy. hours of writing and repeating just wears me down and turns me bitter. I'm going to an independent study high school right now but I'm starting to see I wont last at it. I like the stuff I'm learning and I love to learn but the way school does it just hasn't worked. I don't know where to go from here. i know i cant last through another 3 years of high school and keep up good grades. Is dropping out really so bad if I do other things to be smart? And is it really so hard to make a good life (and a good living) as a high school drop out?

Answer 1

Don't drop out of school. It is bad to drop out. You need at least a high school education to make a good living.

Answer 2

The best that I can suggest is A. making yourselves a real pest to the school officals (and the appropriate parents while you are at it), bugging them every single day with a long list of complaints of every single thing that these other kids have done with all relevent details. But that might not give you the results that you want, since most of the time, school officals are limited to acting only on the things that they actually see and, like you said, the parents are dismissive of the matter or B. moving to another school district. I'm assuming that private school is out of the question and that his mother won't want to move just to switch schools, but many public schools (in PA anyway, I don't know where you are or if that same rules apply) will let you switch to another school as long as they are not expected to provide the transportation. Perhaps there is another school in the area that doesn't have quite so many rich snobby brats. You are certainly doing that right thing though, telling him to just hang in there, that it is a temporary situation, and that the opinions of those little jerks don't matter anyway. But it is quite understandable that he is still feeling a bit depressed about the situation, given that he is a teenager and cannot see the big picture as well as you can. Good Luck!

Answer 3

Hard to make a living, yes, can be. However, being an employee in the school system (teacher), my advice is this: go to the local community college and take a prep test to see if you really know as much as you say and believe you know. If you pass the test, sign up for a GED test and take that. If you pass, you don't have to woory about anything, except if this is your first year, it will be very difficult for you to find worthwhile employment and many colleges will not accept you under the age of 16, even with a GED.

2nd option: Stick it out for another year or until you have at least turned 16 and have half the credits, then do the placement test. Some community colleges will even offer scholarships to younger entry students with high test scores.

Now, as to how to stick it out, remember the school year has just started. So, you might try giving it some time. Or, go talk to your counselor and see of there aren't some ways to modify your schedule so you have more hands-on classes. Or, try and enroll in a work-study program. Here, the high schools offer concurrent enrollment in various certificate programs for high school students: teaching, nursing, x-ray tech, etc. Again, check with your counselor.

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

I would definitely not recommend dropping out of high school without some type of plan. Maybe you should look into a GED and some kind of career training. You are still rather young since you are only in 9th or 10th grade so I don't know if you are old enough to enroll in certain programs. I know at adult ed they have classes you can take if you have your GED to be a medical or dental assistant. I know people who graduated high school and and a 2 year trade school or even a 4 year university that are having trouble finding good jobs that pay enough money for them to get by. It may depend on where you live but think twice before making this decision. If you think that you can get into some kind of career training that would interest you, then maybe it is an option, but don't do it unless you have a plan.

Answer 5

I'll make this as plain as I possibly can. You will not ever get into any sort of professional position without a high school diploma or GED. PERIOD. What plans do you have for when you're out, anyway? Where are you going to live? What are you planning to do for employment? Or were you just planning on living in your parent's basement and hope they don't get fed up with having a 40-yr old McDonald's employee down there? Be realistic. If you really are that brilliant (taking your word for it here), then sticking it out should be a breeze. If you're fantastically smart, then all that's required is you snooze through, turn in the work and walk away with your "A" at the end. Never again in your life will you get such fantastic results for minimal effort. Wait it out. Either suffer through high school or suffer through GED classes with all the other dropouts; the alternative is a lifetime of "You want fries with that?"

Answer 6

Maybe your just too smart for high school. It is hard to get a job, that pays well without a GED, at least. Try and go as long as you can. Maybe get into a program that lets you work part of the day, they had that in my school. Learn how to cut hair, or work in an office. I think your smart and want to do what is right. Just remember you can only count on yourself, as you get older. So, any education is better then none. I hope you do well whatever you choose. Good luck.

Answer 7

You only have 3 years left, why bother dropping at this point? While you can get a GED and it theoretically be the same as a diploma; employers can look at this as a slight "cope out" because it shows a lack of commitment. Unless you have some truly personal reasons; don't.

There are alternatives to dealing with high school. Home schooling is a very viable option. There are self study programs which allow you to get a diploma at a fraction of the time.

Dropping out of high school is almost always something you will regret.

BTW; I hated High School too.

Answer 8

I went to high school and graduated and still didn't get it with all of their ways of teaching, but I know that if I didn't go throught atleast that, I would be a total failure in society now. First thing an employer looks at is if you have a diploma. You can still do your other things, just get your papers and then live your life. You have time to do what makes you happy, just put your time in now. You'll learn that 3 years is nothing when you get out in the real world.

Answer 9

I'm living with a girl who tested out of H.S. at sixteen so she could start college early. I don't recommend ANY other means of exiting high school ahead of schedule. Dropouts are statistically unlikely to ever earn more than a buck or two over minimum wage in their entire lifetimes. I'm having a hard enough time with an H.S. diploma and "some college."

Listen, if you think you're bitter about "the system" now, you're going to have a miserable time actually dealing with the responsibilities of adult life and the narrowness of thought you'll encounter again and again in your employers. My advice: stop thinking about ducking out early and use this opportunity to learn tolerance for stupidity and arbitrary regulations.

Answer 10

Your education is the single most important thing in your life. Without a proper education you can't do anything with your life. And high school is the first step, without it you are done and can't move forward.

I personally didn't work very hard in high school. As a result I got much worse grades than I was capable of. Now, years later I really have very few options for employment. Without education you can't get into a professional field, and without even basic high school it can be hard to get into a manual labor job.

Get your diploma, and do as well as you can. Once you have that you can decide your future. Without that, your future becomes fairly limited.