I suspect that if one were to analyze the demographic attributes of high school drop-outs, controlling for race and ethnicity, that the most common denominator would be lower socio-economic status.

Ditto for demographic statistics related to both college attendance and college graduation rates.

What all groups with elevated high school drp out rates have in common, is they are all groups that have long histories of being devalued because of race, ethnicity and/or socio-economic status.

'Isms' are expressions of values. Racism and prejudice of all kinds embody values. While individuals, families, communities and minority groups of all sorts may hold values that differ in some ways from those of the larger or more powerful society, these smaller groups also absorb the values of the larger and more powerful society.

Children are sponges. If a minority child lives in a society that devalues that child's group, the child will internalize that and devalue themselves. If a child is told they are not likely to succeed at something. They are less likely to succeed at something.

And most of us prefer to stay away from places we do not feel welcomed or valued.

One way to cope with this is to be defiant. One way to cope with this is to insulate oneself and find a sense of power and belonging in a gang. Etc. Etc. Etc.

In line with dianavan's remarks about values and education, the age at which we really begin to 'lose' these kids in school and also the age at which they are becoming capable of those critical thinking skills. It is the age at which they are ready to try out different ideas and identities and values that may be different from those of their parents. From a developmental perspective, when that child disengages, a golden, and perhaps critical opportunity has been lost. Or at the very least, the window of opportunity to acquire or to reshape critical values and beliefs becomes substantially smaller.

A kid that is really engaged and who really has a sense of ownership, belonging and entitlement to be whatever they have the potential to be does not suddenly flip a switch off and quit school at age 16. The process of alienation and disengagement begins well before the point at which the kid drops out.

Janie