Issues within Schools
By: Edgar Villegas
Bilingual Education
From personal Experience, bilingual education was a major component on wether a student would graduate high school or drop out. As a child I was in the bilingual program in school up until I was in 2nd grade when I voluntarily choose to be in the "all english" class rooms. English being a second language to me, if I had been placed in the all english classes, I would have more than likely failed out of school. The bilingual program definitely helps a student learn english at their own pace while still being able to continue their education. During my time in high school, I saw many students drop out of school due to feeling like they could not understand nor learn the English language. They almost felt handicapped since they could not communicate with their teachers to ask questions if they did not understand what they were learning in class. The students at times would even feel helpless and like they could not learn which led up to them dropping out of school. Ultimately, bilingual education could have two possible outcomes, either a positive outcome where a student can learn english thanks to the schools giving the kids a opportunity to learn or due to lack of bilingual teachers or multiple factors, the students would find it easier to drop out of school.
Dropout Reasons
High school students face multiple different obstacles while in high school, some of which us as adults may not comprehend. There are multiple reasons why students drop out, some being grades, family issues, pregnancy, etc. During my time in high school I actually witnessed a couple of these cases. When i was a sophomore in high school I saw a couple of people just not return to school after having given birth. I later found out that they felt like they couldn't keep their grades up since the baby would keep them awake at night or they had to work more in order to support their child. Other people that I knew who dropped out did it merely because they hated attending school. They did not feel comfortable being at school and saw it as a waste of time. After all this time though I have talked to some of those people who did drop out and they expressed to me how they feel they made a mistake but were able to obtain their GED since the jobs they were in required it for multiple different reasons.