High school teachers, help me out here. [View all]

[proud2BlibKansan]

I've spent my entire career in elementary schools so I'm out of my league with high school issues. But there is something I have always wondered about.

Why do we let kids drop out of school?

We don't let kids drive till they're 16. We don't let them join the military till they're 17 (I think - or is it 18?) and I believe they now have to have a a high school diploma to enlist. They can't vote till they're 18. They can't drink till they're 21.

But in spite of knowing they won't have much success in life without a high school diploma and are just barely able to make mature decisions at age 16, we let them drop out of school? (In my state, it's 17, but I think most states are age 16.)

Yes, I know we absolutely have to make school a place they want to come to. We need to meet their needs and we don't always do a good job of making them want to come to school. But that's not what I am asking here.

I want to know why we just let them drop out.