Holden Caulfield Case Study

Holden Caulfield has faced many of the same issues that plague the lives of students with a lower socioeconomic status. Although his parents are educated, they do not take a particular interest in the success of his education, and are not willing to put forth the necessary effort to assist him succeed in school. This is a similar problem that many disadvantaged have to deal with. Their parents may be unable to assist them, because they have not been able progress far enough in the education system, or they may not even be present due to mass incarceration and the prevalence of single-parent families. When parents are not around to instruct and care for their kids to make good decisions, they are prone to put themselves into bad situations.

This would lead to higher grades, test scores, school attendance, decreased use of drugs and alcohol, and lower rates of suspension and dropping out (What Research). With his parents not around to support him, he lacked the necessary moral compass, decision making, and social skills needed to succeed not only in school, but in the world. Many kids have the same parental situation as Holden, also with similar results. -----Family participation in education was twice as predictive of students ' academic success as family socioeconomic status. Some of the more intensive programs had effects that were 10 times greater than other factors” (What Research). Increased parental involvement could be the first step to breaking the cycle of poor education and poverty. Poor students are at a much higher risk of not having parental involvement, which draws a clear parallel to these students and Holden

He had to deal with his brother, Ally, passing away, and he was never able to receive the necessary counseling to cope successfully. Although major life events can strike anyone, they are extremely prevalent where the very worst schools in the country are located. Within inner-cities there is a pervasive amount of gang and gun violence, early death, and mass incarceration. Most of the public schools are unable to handle the needs of students regarding mental health and counseling. For example, “Not every school has staff that pay to each student’s well-being, nor do they have therapists to work with students with mental illnesses” (San Jose). School counselors could be crucial in decreasing dropout rates and cases of severe mental stress. Holden’s point of view was that, “I can 't seem to get very interested ... It is alright with me if you flunk me though as I am flunking everything else except English anyway...I 'd only written that damn note so that he wouldn 't feel too bad about flunking me“ (Salinger). He was bored by school, and possessed a nonchalant attitude about succeeding and continuing his learning. For Holden, simply having a school counselor to aid him could have allowed him to re-evaluate his behavior and maybe alter the path he was taking. Like many other students, he had mental health needs that simply needed to be catered to, yet are not in schools.The wrong motives and ideals are