High School Dropout Levels

Urban centers throughout the United States of America and the world have experienced violence within the inner city communities. Many of the inner city communities are low-income and are poverty stricken. The spread of gang membership within the communities has influenced many young adolescents. Activities such as drug dealing, theft, assaults, and murders drive law enforcement to prevent crime. The justice system is also being changed due to the increase in minor violence. One of the reasons is due to people being part of minority groups. The charges pushed by the judicial

Often communities are separated by socioeconomic status. Some of the problems that can lead to poor economic status include increased levels of unemployment, poverty, decreased levels of economic opportunities and a lack of education (Browne, Salomon, Bassuk, 1999). Browne, Salomon, and Bassuk (1999) concluded that individuals residing in households earning less than $10,000 a year had a greater possibility of experiencing violence, than individuals living in wealthier households. Furthermore, in 2005 “Health Zone 1 had the highest poverty level with 26% of the population living below poverty” (Duval County Health Department, 2008, pg. 4). There is an obvious correlation between violence and economic deprivation. Now that violence has been recognized as a progressive problem, let’s look at what interventions can be implemented to decrease these abnormally high violence rates in Health Zone 1.

In Chicago, there are geographic disparities that affect communities as a whole due to political- economic distortions and underrepresented communities that lack resources. The neighborhood I reside in, Pilsen, is one community in Chicago that is currently being affected by violence and gang rivalry. Pilsen is located in the Lower West Side area and is known as one of the primary Mexican American neighborhoods in Chicago. One current main social problem that Pilsen encounters in the neighborhood is violence in the community that result in high school drop out and death rates. As well as issues in poverty and limited resources. The violence occurring in Pilsen has brought community members to advocate for change within the area. As a member of the community I have seen violence as a social problem that is being committed by the own community members who are residing in the area.

A person's childhood will ultimately determine the course of the rest of their lives. Statistically, children who are born into poor locations are more likely to commit robberies and to engage in gang-related criminality. The people who are most at-risk are African American youth, particularly males from single-parent households (Wheelock & Ugeen 2006, page 2). Within low-income areas, there are many associated hardships including lack of educational opportunities, health care, potential employment, and an influx of

First, community policing can be identified or known in numerous ways, one being the broken windows theory. An overview of broken windows theory through policing is known that because of “lack of social order” or policing neighborhoods are unkempt and vandalized. As a result, with the help of community policing, programs are evaluated, crime patterns are analyzed, and information is shared with organizations and other municipal agencies and with the community to help build stronger bonds with the community(Reisig,

From 2002 to 206, 20% of all homicides in Urban areas could be attributed to gang violence (McDaniels, 2012). One notable characteristic of gang membership in the United States, is that youth who join gangs are more likely to engage in assault, robbery, felony theft, and breaking and entering, than their non-gang peers (Hill, et al., 2001). The lack of proper parental supervision in communities with high risk factors such as high poverty rates, is closely associated with delinquent behaviors in juveniles. It is therefore worthwhile to study the impact of socioeconomic factors in a child’s upbringing, and how such factors influence a child’s tendency to engage in deviant behavior. Consequently, it is also equally as important to study the protective barriers parents and community provide to their youth that assist in better coping with adversity.

Gangs continue to be a growing problem in the United States. Gangs pose danger not only to society as a whole but to children in particular. According to the Executive Summary: Changing Course prepared by the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “nearly one in 12 young people said they belonged to a gang at some point during their teenage years” (Ritter, Simon, &Mahendra, n.d.). Despite the dangerous and criminal activities that gangs participate in, children as young as 11 and 12 become involved in gangs which makes early prevention absolutely vital.

In today’s society, many juveniles live in broken homes, mostly single parent household. Because so many homes have financial obligations the parent(s) of the home may be forced to work long hours leaving children home alone and unsupervised. When children are left home alone on a regular basis the possibility presents that they will begin to feel neglected, abandoned, and unloved; and because of this they begin to seek that feeling from other places. They start looking for attention and love elsewhere, and usually find it within the gang. The gang then provides the youth love, attention, a source of support, and social connections, and this pleases some the areas that the youth was missing; a family type of bonding. The gang essentially becomes their family. Children who are lacking these feelings are vulnerable to joining gangs. What makes gangs attractive is the promise of a sense of belonging that they might not have at home or school. The gang becomes the parent of many teenagers. Some join gangs looking for a substitute family. The leader of the gangs is considered to be the father figure, while the members are considered to be the siblings. This connection gives the ‘unloved’ child a feeling of self-worth and erodes their relationship with the biological

I would like to thank you again for attending my presentation regarding the enormous dropout problem that affects hundreds of students in the camden city school district, as well as hundreds of thousands of students nationwide. As the president of united states programs at the bill and melinda gates foundatio, you lead "efforts to ensure that all students receive a high quality education that leads to success in college and their career". With your help and support from the billand melinda gates foundation, working together in collaboration with the city of camden, the dropout crisis can be challenged and defeated.

Regardless of the ascending trend in students completing school in America, about 5 percent of the enrolled high school students quit from various learning institutions yearly, (Kaufman, Kwon, Klein, and Chapman, 1999). For instance, in 1998 out of America’s total population there were about 37 million high school dropouts, (US Bureau of census, 1999). Dropout proportions in the America show a wide discrepancy among major indigenous groups. In the year 1998, according to, (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2000), the dropout rates among 16 to 24 years old learners were 7.7 percent for Whites, non-Hispanics, 13.8 for Black, non-Hispanics and 29.5 for Hispanics respectively (as shown in table 1). However,

Research shows that risk for crime behavior is worsened by poverty and lack of positive influences like a loving father, good neighbors or a teacher willing to reach out to the troubled child. (Barnet& Barnet,1998). A stable social environment gives the child the emotional security he requires,

It is stated that 30% of all teen girls that dropout list pregnancy as the main reason why they dropped out. The rates of pregnant teen dropouts are higher in the lower class, and the minority groups. It has been said that nearly two-thirds of all teen families live in poverty and at least one in four will live on welfare before the child becomes a toddler. Children of teen parents are more likely to dropout, one-third of all children with teen parents are said to drop out while 19% of children with older parents will dropout. Approximately 40% of all teen mothers will end up finishing high school, and only 2% will attend and finish college by the time they turn thirty. Young women attending a community college that get

Kids growing up in these neighborhoods are surrounded by people that have lost the hope of becoming successful by conventional methods. They see two perspectives on their situation. One being the despair associated with residents still trying to make an honest living. The other are the individuals that have become involved in criminal activity and are able to provide for their families and are at ease with their situation. For most children, it’s an easy decision to become involved in crime, for it’s more appealing than the alternative.

He states “Youth who grow up in disadvantaged neighborhoods where crime, gangs, and lacking social services are normative may pass unhealthy behaviors to one another through familial or peer networks”. Alvarado argues that growing up in disadvantaged neighborhoods can have serious repercussions on the behavioral development patterns of children. By growing up in a disadvantaged environment children are more susceptible to troubling conditions in the future. Due to their high-crime environment these children might grow up to join gangs and live unhealthy

Thesis Statement: More and more students drop out each year. Those who dropped out have various reasons. The alarming rates of drop outs have led them to a bleak future wherein such incident requires the attention and immediate action of various school authorities.