So many teens want to drop out of high school and get GED's instead. What's going on?

Many teens believe that GED's are easier to get than high school diplomas. For the vast majority, that is not the case. You still have to deal with teachers, studying, and homework. It seems as though someone started a rumor that's gone way out of control. As a matter of fact, the trend for the past for several years has been moving towards keeping teens in high school. The New York City school system is a good example of that. They have set up various schools designed to get teens away from GED programs and back into high school for diplomas. This is a national trend.

So many teens want to drop out of high school and get GED's instead. What's going on?
I don't know, BUT I do know that getting the GED is MUCH harder than graduating from HIGH SCHOOL. They have changed the rules, it's much harder I do respect those who have got their GED because they have to work much harder to get that than just getting their degree from high school.
Reply:Our country is dying out. We have stopped caring about America. It happened to the romans, it happened to the greeks, and its going to happen to us. The public sucks, most are fools who walk around in abercrombie clothing not caring about a godamn thing. America is being turned into a shopping mall
Reply:i don't know why they think that! i personally won't even think of dropping out because i know i would never go back. plus you have to pay 4 GED classes. so why not just take the stuff when you have the opportunity to do that for near nothing.
Reply:See movies about teen lives in High School and you'll know why. I would not want to be there either if I am a teen. I think teens who go directly to GED are mature and they don't want to waste their time.
Reply:Just what you said, they think it's easier. That is usually not the case. I wish all states would stop allowing students to drop out at 16. I think all students should have to stay in school and complete high school or at least until they are 18. I don't know why anyone thinks the rest of society should have to support them. Very few places will hire anyone without a high school diploma or GED. If everyone had to finish high school, I think it would go a long way to help curb unemployment and welfare.
Reply:I have a friend who dropped out for a GED and her reason was her peers. People made fun of her because she was overweight and she didn't want to deal with it anymore so she started skipping to hang with her boyfriend every day until eventually her dad just took her out of school. Her parents obviously didn't care about her education and she didn't either so I think it's lack of care because everyone thinks in the long run everything will be ok.
Reply:GED programs are more self-paced and some people like that. There's less discipline too, which is why kids like them and employers don't.





As a matter of fact, a person with a GED doesn't make any more money that a dropout because employers figure the GED holder probably doesn't know any more than the dropout and has the same poor attendance and lack of discipline as the dropout.





A GED only pays off if the person who gets it goes onto to trade school or college. Even so, it's really hard because a GED doesn't measure the level of reading and math and everything else that a post-secondary school expects its students to have. Usually the GED holder has to take a bunch of remedial courses (for pay) to learn what they could have learned in high school if they'd sucked it up and taken tough classes.
Reply:Many kids see it as an easy way out. Also, parents are not doing their jobs to instill the idea of the importance of education. Most parents would want their children to be the best that they possibly can but by dropping out of high school you diminish that possibility. With a GED it is very, very hard to get into college if you decide to go back to school and now many military branches take only a limited number of applicants with a GED (the Air Force for example only allows .5% of their recruits to enter with a GED). If you do any research at all on average the more education you have the better quality of life you end up with (granted there are exceptions to every rule) but for the most part it is a fact. We have becoem a society that does not want to face adversity and when things get rough we tend to roll over and die. This has been passed down to our children who are doing the same with their educations. Parents need to be more involved and ensure their children complete their educations.
Reply:I am not like that, but I understand why people are doing this. I put the blame on the teachers because they simply don't care anymore. Most of my teachers play cards or get on AIM while the students teach themself the work. I understand why people don't want to put up with this. No matter how hard my parents and I try, we can't change the way my school (or any school, for that matter) teaches.





I spend at least five hours every night on homework teaching myself lessons. I get straight A's as a result of studying for so long. I ask my teachers for help, but they don't.





I can't blame my parents, because they have supported me and even helped me when I was struggling. I definitely can't blame myself, because I am doing well. I have to blame society and the teachers.
Reply:I think in many cases they don't want to go to high school for 4 years and sit through so many classes and listen to so many teachers, they think it would be easier just to take the test and get it over with. They're crazy and they'll never have real lives. No one thinks about the future.
Reply:Parents need to start instilling the value of a good education in their children from the very beginning. In our family, it was "understood" that we would graduate and further our education. Even though neither of my parents graduated from high school (they were teens during the depression) we children knew that dropping out was something that would not be tolerated. Parents MUST play an active role in their child's education.