December 2, 2008
The dropout rate in U.S. high schools is at epidemic proportions. One third of all public high school students fail to graduate and up to 50 per cent of minority students lack a high school diploma. When asked why they have become disengaged from the learning environment, 47 percent answered that traditional classes were not interesting. In short, students were bored.
When students drop out it’s not only their lives that are affected. Dropouts impact their communities, productivity, the economy, and the nation as a whole. The future for those who do not complete high school is grim. Dropouts are eight times more likely to be in jail or prison than someone with a high school diploma and it is estimated the nation spends up to 2.3 million dollars on every youth who does not complete school.
Recent studies indicate that service-learning can play a major role in keeping students interested in their studies, thus improving attendance rates. In fact, service-learning can positively affect classroom issues ranging from improved behavior, academic performance and help students with leadership skills and self-confidence. Given all that service-learning can do, is it time to push for mandatory service-learning in public schools?
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