Kids in America

I recently had the oppertunity to spend the day at an alternative school program for middle and high school students in my home town area. The program is designed for students failing to succeed in a regular classroom environment to be moved to a school with a reduced stress level and a greater one-in-one contact level.

Kids who are recommended to the program have a high truency rate, frequent supensions, poor classroom behavior, and/or are just not doing a very good job of passing in a regular school. The main goal of the program is to help the students to succeed to a point of being ready to return to their regular school (many do not want to leave because they see themselves succeeding in the program and they feel good about themselves). Also most of the kids in the program are not the kind of students that have plans to attend college. And while attending college is not always the right thing for every student, each student should be given oppertunities in their own school to succeed. While at the program students are placed in very small classroom sizes where there is much more supervision than what is found in your average American school.

Many of the kids that I met while spending time at the program were nice and decent people, there were some that had their fare share of problems. Some are recovering drug addicts, others have juvenile records of theft and other misdomeanor crimes, a few have at one point in time been on house arrest (mind you these are kids ages 11-18). Some of the kids are also special ed. cases and they will never really be able to succeed in a regular classroom. I was a distraction to some students because they wanted to know who I was and why I was at the program. They were also curious as to why I happened to be dressed in their uniform, a green polo and khakis, I'd worn a green polo and jeans. I felt as though they really just wanted to connect with someone that wasn't stuck in the classroom with them and who didn;t lead such a regulated life.

Sitting at this alternative school and watching each student pass by the main office where I was sitting, helping the secretary, I began to wonder how different these kids' lives would be if there was a school that was designed for students that either do not plan to attend college or are never going to reach a level of college preparedness. I feel that this program would be much more successful if there were more like it across the country, and if rather than being temporary, they were permanent schools.

If there were schools set up to teach what are generally known as 'non-diploma' students or students not planning to continue their education after graduation, where they learn all the things that are required by state laws and tests, but they are not required to be placed in college prep classes and they are taught certain life skills; such as paying bills, buying/leasing cars or houses, cooking, changing diapers, etc.; these kids would thrive and in the end be much better off.

I am by no means trying to say that students who are under-educated or special ed. or what-have-you are not as good as those students that really do want to continue their education after high school, I just think that for all parties involved, students, faculty, and administration alike, it would be a better system. I also think that if this were to happen the drop out rate would go down. One, because students wouldn't feel as though they are being pushed towards a goal that they do not see for themselves. And two, because then those students who do wish to meet these goals will have a greater opportunity to.

So for a quick recap: Kids who have problems with attendance, fighting, outside influences, etc. should be given an opportunity to gain knowledge that will help them in the real world post-high school graduation.