Sorry, Mr. President–Sometimes Dropping Out is the BEST Option

Education folks are cheering President Obama’s strong statements about improving education. They are thrilled that he is calling upon every American to get an additional year of college or training. They are elated that he has established a goal of dramatically increasing the percentage of college graduates. They are positively giddy about his emphasis on keeping kids in high school. As he put it in his State of the Nation address, “Dropping out of high school is no longer an option.”

Pardon me, Mr. President, but I beg to differ.

Now, I couldn’t agree more that we must emphasize education and get more kids into and through college, and I certainly recognize that a 30% drop-out rate demands our attention. Within that 30 percent, there are thousands of students who are leaving high school because it is too hard or too dull or too frustrating–and many are likely to avoid any form of higher education for the rest of their lives. This is a tragedy, and it should stir us to change the way we approach high school for those who are at risk of dropping out.

But the drop-out rate is misleading. Sure, it includes the pregnant girls, the boys who get in trouble, the kids who are just too overwhelmed to make high school a priority, etc. But it also includes plenty of bright students who are leaving the system in order to pursue other education opportunities.

Though it varies from state to state, in many places, students who homeschool, study online or even go abroad are counted as “drop-outs”. And make no mistake–some of these kids are leaving high school precisely because they are smart enough and motivated enough to recognize that they could get a much more rigorous and exhilarating education elsewhere.

My two youngest daughters would be considered drop-outs. Teal spent her junior year on exchange in Brazil, and then moved to Argentina to join us (we moved while she was abroad), finishing her senior year online. What’s she doing now? She was the youngest graduate ever at her university in Canada when she graduated at 19 in December, and now she is very happily working as a multilingual events coordinator for Norwegian Cruise Lines, where she is the youngest crew member aboard a ship that is currently cruising through the Bahamas. (Poor thing.)

Her younger sister would be considered even more of a slacker. Talya never went to high school in the US and would be counted as a ninth grade drop-out. She had a year of high school in Mexico and a month of high school in Argentina. She started taking college courses at 15, worked with tutors, spent time with mentors and earned her GED certification at 16. Now she is getting straight As at a private university in upstate New York, where she will graduate with a BS next December within two weeks of her 19th birthday.

You see, sometimes, high school can be terribly limiting. Granted, my kids had unusual circumstances–they had to find a way to finish high school without being in the US–but in the course of writing my book, I interviewed well over 100 students who found ways to get a great education that suits them perfectly, and I can assure you that they view “dropping out” of high school as the smartest move they ever made. All of them graduated from college–many of them went on to get master’s degrees. It’s not that they’re nerds or geniuses–they don’t have stratospheric IQs, nor are they socially inept. They are, in fact, quite mature for their age and simply prefer a more adult learning environment than high school. They are bold, innovative, clear about what they want, and very engaged in their work. These Bold Schoolers are THRIVING.

If I were hiring a new employee for my company, I’d pick one of these “drop outs” over a kid on the typical four-by-four plan (four years of high school, four years of college) any day of the week–and I’m guessing most other employers would, too. Unless, of course, they are looking for someone to sit at a desk, do whatever task is put in front of them, and never question the methodology or consider ways to do things differently.

Hey, I know all too well that if you disconnect a smart kid from the college-prep life support system (aka high school), those who don’t understand the advantages of doing so are going to see it as a sign of trauma and a reason for panic: “His university options are crashing! He’s losing pressure! More AP classes–stat!” But those who “drop out” as part of a strategy to dive into higher education early are leaving their AP/SAT test-crazed classmates in the dust–and grinning from ear to ear.

Listen, I want more kids to go on to college–and that means finishing high school in some way in order to move forward. But when 30 percent of our high school students are dropping out, we should be asking some serious questions about WHAT THEY ARE DOING WHEN THEY LEAVE rather than redoubling efforts to keep them in the same stultifying learning environment. Raising mandatory school age requirements to 18, as some states are doing, misses the point entirely. We need to ENGAGE them, and if high school isn’t working, let’s work with them to find more suitable options rather than handcuff them for another year or two.

Thanks, Mr. President, for making education a priority. Now, let’s make sure we’re not keeping our brightest students down by forcing them to stay in high school rather than pursue far more beneficial options.

Tagged as: Barack Obama, Bold School, Bold Schoolers, college admissions, college graduation rate, drop-out rate, dropping out, education, education design, education reform, high school, high school drop out, high school graduation rate, President Obama, State of the Nation, The New Global Student