Edmund Partridge Junior High School - Banner Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

Page 70 text:

WHY STUDENTS LEAVE SCHOOL “More students drop out of school!” “Only forty per cent of today’s high school students will graduate. These are familiar yet ever startling facts. The importance of obtaining a high school diploma is growing, yet more and more students fail to complete the courses offered to them. Why is this? Why is the number of “drop¬ outs” constantly rising while the chances for an uneducated job-seeker are constantly lessening? Look around you. So much stress is placed on maturity, or being “grown up.” The “ideal people” students see every day in the television commercials and movies are adventurous, worldly, and wealthy. They do not seem bothered by algebra problems, textbooks, and homework. The mind of the teen-ager is very impressionable. Natur¬ ally he wants to lead a free, easy life. To him the answer is to drop out of school. There is also much stress placed on money. To the teen-ager, money is the answer to all his problems. He desires to earn money right away. He quits school and takes a small job, thinking he will progress. It is not important to him that his job is small and he has no chance for advancement with his pood education. Now he can obtain some of the teen-agers’ most prized sttus symbols — clothes and a car. The teen-ager also desires to get married. He leaves school in order to appear more mature. He leaves with the assumption that he will soon marry and all his problems will be solved. After many years of school the teen-ager wants adventure. He cannot find adventure, he thinks, by studying his textbooks, so he feels he must leave school and make a life of his own. These many drop-out problems are dreaded by adults, not teen-agers. School itself also presents a problem. By the time a student reaches the higher grades he finds school a growing challenge. More stress is put on exams than on daily work. By failing to pass these exams the student feels his school life is finished. He sees no purpose in continuing his education. He drops out of school. He is pushed by his parents to study more than he can tolerate. His parents constantly drive him to achieving better marks than their neighbor’s son. The standards the high school student requires for University are very high and constantly growing accord¬ ing to the demands of society. A sixty per cent average is required. The average or below average student real¬ izes the futility of his striving for a university entran ce. The high school student is also presented with the discouraging fact that only forty per cent pass their examinations. He abandons his studies with the idea that education has no purpose for the average student. No doubt the importance of school has been drummed into him for years by teachers, parents and elderly dignitaries who visit the school. The high school student becomes worn out of hearing these golden oppor¬ tunities since his work is not good. He drops out of school with the “I’ll show them” attitude. The student’s attitude is also an important factor in determining whether or not he stays in school. The boy could become bored with the work he is taking. Boredom leads to unhappines and he will soon seek salvation in a job, or by simply doing nothing. Another reason for leaving school is frustration. That he has to go to school is what the student has been learning, yet his grades are poor. He would like more money but naturally he will take the easy way out. Mr. “Know-It-All” is another likely candidate for the list of dropouts. His grades are not good. He has his eye on a car he would like to buy. He is able to secure a position in a manufacturing firm. He wonders why he should study literature for the job he now could get and hold full-time. The person who drops out of school is one with an unrealistic attitude. The pay cheque he loses by remaining in school will be made up time and time again in the future. He realizes, however, only the importance of the present, not of the future. There are also some cases where the student leaves school because of a poor home life. He knows that with a job he can leave home. He might also quit for financial reasons. He feels he cannot cope with the growing financial demands of school and university. This is no excuse, since many scholarships are available. What is the answer? How can we curb this number of dropouts? By proper guidance some can be taught to think of the future. Patience is the key to guiding the teen-ager. It is difficult for the high school student to learn by experience in this case. Ask the man who dropped out! Phyllis Wasserman, Grade IX, Room 3.

Page 69 text:

A MESSAGE Somewhere the sky is blue, Somewhere bold hearts are true; Somewhere a wild bird cries, And man lifts up his eyes. He sees the heavens, He sees the earth, He sees the sorrow, He sees the mirth. Somewhere a storm is brewing, And people run in fright, While angry bombs are falling, Destroying in their spite. Man, who once had the world tight in his palms Listens unheeding to the angels ' warning psalms. Linda Singer, Room 17, Grade 7 LOST IN THE DESERT The feverish rays of the desert sun scorched the scattered bits of vegetation. Miles and miles of endless sand dunes stretched in every direction. Here and there the gleaming blanket was dotted with the many varieties of cacti. My throat was parched and my eyes were weary as I kept them on the world beyond me ... a world of absolutely nothing. Having no food and water for almost three days, I kept trudging on but my progress was unrewarded. Weak as I was, I knew that I must go on. But unable to go any farther I fell unconscious upon the scorching sand. A few hours later, I awakened and the cool breeze of the evening desert air seemed to revive me. Unfortunately the night would last but a few hours longer and I would once again be walking the lonely desert trail. Carolyn Chick, Grade VIII Room 14.

Page 71 text:

“Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm, it moves stones, it charms brutes.” CD Cl O H CD