Life is Hard, Without a Diploma it is Harder

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To sustain a decent job that could provide a substantial income in today’s society, citizens must have a high school education. Since children are allowed to drop out of school at the age of sixteen, they limit their chances of leading a prosperous life as an adult; without a high school diploma, or its equivalency, it is difficult to live life above the poverty line. Nettie Legters, a research scientist, expresses her thoughts on how there should be a way to prevent the percentages of student dropouts nationwide.
According to the data released by the Census Bureau, “... the overall poverty rate in 2012 was 15.0 percent...This represents 46.5 million people living in poverty” (“Poverty Guidelines”). The millions of people in poverty could be lessened if children were required to stay in school past the age of sixteen. The difference between someone being in poverty could be having a diploma, “The average annual pay gain between someone who has a high school diploma and someone who does not is $9, 425” (Doland). This nine thousand dollar difference in pay is because the person that is employed has a high school diploma. The difference between someone being in poverty or being prosperous could very well be having a high school diploma.
People without a high school diploma experience difficulties gaining the necessary h qualifications most employers require; “Ninety percent of US jobs a high school dropout is not eligible for” (“High School”). This leaves merely ten percent of jobs in America for those that do not their high school credentials. Also, the competition between the citizens that have not obtained their diploma will be rather large, resulting in even more people below the poverty line.
Because there is such a larg...

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... ability to beneficially manipulate technology. Children that dropout of school before learning how to use current technology are not able to compete with those who completed high, nor are they able to take advantage of the programs that are necessary to make a profit. Children who make the unwise decision to drop out of school when they reach the age of sixteen, are not competent enough to make adult decisions that could alter their way of life completely. The decisions that they make could also destroy their chance at prosperity for themselves and their children. Their ability to decide whether they want to go to school past the required age can disrupt the entire economy of America. A law or policy that prevents children from dropping out of school could ignite a reconditioning in the nation’s economy; it might even decrease the country’s illiteracy statistics.

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