High school isn’t easy for any kid. I’m sure we can all remember a time when we looked down and wished our feet weren’t so big or that we had a “cooler” pair of shoes.
Whether we thought our peers considered us to be the popular kid or the nerd, shyest or most outgoing, sporty or arty, least or most likely to “succeed”; we definitely wondered what the other kids thought. Kids haven’t changed that much. Rich or poor, black, white, Latino or Asian, kids are still kids. Fashion, slang and “cool” have changed, but really, at the end of the day, they’re having the same experiences we did.
So, what’s different?
Why does 1 child drop out of high school every 26 seconds?
Why are 30% of our kids in this country dropping out of high school? Why are 40 to 75% of of kids in our urban communities dropping out? Why are half of all African-American boys dropping out of high school?
Here’s what we know:
- For too many kids the mental connection between getting an education and their own financial success and stability has not been clearly drawn.
- In too many communities and I dare say, in the popular media, the message sent to our kids is that being smart does NOT = being cool.
- In almost all of our communities and certainly in the popular media, the message has been repeated over and over again that being cool = having bling (stuff: expensive cars, designer jeans, haute couture hand bags, platinum & diamond jewelry, make-up, sneakers, you know the drill).
We also know:
- Our kids need to meet and interact with adult role models that can serve as examples to them of what they can become.
- Our kids need to receive more messages from the people around them, in their everyday lives, about their own innate & inner beauty and how to attain & exude personal dignity, than they receive about outer beauty and how to chase the proverbial, moving target known as “cool”.
- Our kids need to know the facts:
- That education is directly related to income
- That it is possible for each and every one of them to graduate high school, to go to college and to get rich (or at least become self-sufficient), legally.
- That proper management of the money you do make will significantly improve the quality of your life, over the course of your life.
- That we care about them.
Our kids need you. They can’t do this by themselves.
And the best part? It doesn’t require much. A couple days a year at most. Your time. Your energy. That’s all it will take to stop this epidemic.
Be the person that touches a life and stops him or her from dropping out of high school 26 seconds from … NOW.
…25, 24, 23, 22, 21
…the clock is ticking
…call now to get involved: 213.891.2900.
Emily Ausbrook
Senior Vice President and 5MK Campaign Manager
