Dropout Nation Movie Review

This film follows four students at Sharpstown High School who are at risk for dropping out before graduating. Sharpstown High is referred to as a “dropout factory” throughout the film, as a large portion of their enrolled freshman don’t make it to their senior year. This inner city high school, along with nineteen other, however, implemented and worked through many strategies to lower the number of dropouts through a program called Apollo 20. Throughout the film you can see how these methods work out for some students, but also how they fall short for others. Dropout Nation raises many questions. One question in particular being what can be done for students who are at risk for dropping out. Further, not only what is the extent to what a

Family functions as a very important social institution, and the primary agent of socialization (Snedker, 10/19/2016). To expand, parents and other family members are the first exposure to the world children have, and therefore leave a lasting impact on kids in terms of how they see themselves and the people around them. However, this impact isn’t always positive. This especially shows in the differences between upper and lower income families. For example, In Lareau’s piece Invisible Inequality, two boys in families with different SESs, are studied. On one hand, the boy in the higher SES family had less freedom and spent more time in extracurricular activities. Due to this, he acquired more cultural capital than the other boy. This boy’s mother also encouraged him to to be more assertive and confident with authority figures, so he was able to learn various life skills, such as speaking to a doctor, that the other boy wasn’t able to. The boy from the lower SES family however, spent much more time with other children and watching television. These factors play out to make the lower SES boy less confident and more confined than the other boy (Lareau,

For example, Sparkle often missed school, because she had to worry about where to stay at night and what to eat. Another student in the film, Marcus, regularly missed classes because he was taking care of his parents while thy were drinking. Both of these situations within home and family life are obvious stressors that would take away from education. These factors and similar ones are very prevalent and high on the list of issues preventing kids from getting the most out of their education, and yet they are the hardest for the education system to help