Why Do Boys Drop Out Of School More Often Than Girls

Why do boys drop out of school more often than girls?

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Why do boys drop out of school more often than girls?

Attaining education is the essential thing that can guarantee a bright future. Additionally, it can facilitate social mobility as well, which may, in turn, increase the economic stability of a country. However, students' dropouts pose a great threat to not only an individual leaving school but also to the well-being of a country and society. Despite various efforts being done by the government, the number of students being dropped out of school is alarming. In recent years it has been observed that many boys are dropping out of not only schools but colleges as well, which is alarming.

Specifically, discussing the US, according to the statistics, more than 1.2 million students drop out of school, and more than 26% of students fail to graduate high school (Miller, 2015). However, one thing that cannot be neglected that most of the high school or college dropouts are male students. Several reasons are there due to which boys drop out of school more than girls. Typically, boys do not mature as rapidly as girls due to which they usually have a careless attitude. Girls tend to have better behavioral and social skills as compared to boys. As boys lack behavioral and social skills, they tend to make behavioral choices that result in poor adjustments.

Another reason for boys getting a drop out of school is because of various reasons. According to the research conducted by Marder and his fellows, two-third of students that possess learning disabilities are males (Wagner & Marder, 2007). Also, diseases such as ADHD and Dyslexia are more common in males than females. Owing to the difficulties that male individuals encounter while having learning disabilities, they tend to drop school.

Social media is another factor that influences both males and females. The unrealistic perception that is shown on social media regarding the fun activities that other people are doing makes teens, especially young boys, to be indulged in various fun activities. The fragile young person is unable to identify unrealistic posts and try to attain the same level of leisure and fun (Miller, 2015). They tend to focus more on social media rather than attaining education and thus get poor results and eventually had to drop out of school.

Owing to an increase in the pressure of attaining education and good grades, many teens suffer from several mental disorders, especially depression. However, according to the research published by the author Quinn and fellow researchers, male students are less likely to avail of counseling services than female students (Quinn & Wagner, 2015). Thus, the inability of managing and handling pressure of high school results in poor grades that eventually leads to getting dropped off from the school.

It has been observed that many students enter high school with many unrealistic expectations. Most of them believe that successful business tycoons such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, they will also be able to start a business without having a degree (Bridgeland & Morison, 2006). Young boys do not realize that every person is not the same, and education is essential to have a successful future. Thus, the unrealistic expectations that young boys have to make them focus less on education that results in poor grades.

Drug abuse is of the major issue that every country in the world is facing. Particularly, in the US, more than 21 million people have at least one addiction. Also, Americans ranging between the ages of 16 to 25 are more likely to use addictive drugs (Neill & Martin, 2015). In high school, many male students fell prey to the drug smugglers and indulged in drug abuse. The drug abuse not only affects their health but their ability to focus on attaining education. Due to this reason, many boys are being dropped out of school.

Several reasons are there due to which boys drop out more from high school as compared to girls. Thus, mutual efforts from educational institutes, parents, teachers, and society are required so that the rate of boys getting dropped out of school can be decreased.

References

Bridgeland, J. M., DiIulio Jr, J. J., & Morison, K. B. (2006). The silent epidemic: Perspectives of high school dropouts. Civic Enterprises.

Miller, T. (2015). Partnering for education reform. US Department of Education.

Neill, K. A., & Martin, W. (2015). Marijuana Reform: Fears and Facts. Issue Brief, (02.04. 15).

Quinn, J. M., & Wagner, R. K. (2015). Gender differences in reading impairment and in the identification of impaired readers: Results from a large-scale study of at-risk readers. Journal of learning disabilities, 48(4), 433-445.

Wagner, M., Newman, L., Cameto, R., Levine, P., & Marder, C. (2007). Perceptions and Expectations of Youth with Disabilities. A Special Topic Report on Findings from the National Longitudinal Study-2 (NLTS2): Chapter 6--Youth's Expectations for the Future. Journal for Vocational Special Needs Education, 30(1), 18-27.