Linda Alexander

Helping the At-Risk Student Linda Alexander

Americans of all socioeconomic levels send their children to school to prepare them for good jobs and good wages. Most people expect their children to gain a better lifestyle and to live in better neighborhoods than they did when they were growing up. Children go to school with these expectations. However, somewhere in this process, many students from the socioeconomically disadvantaged minority experience failure, become discouraged and drop out of school. This waste of young minds and lives must stop, and somehow these at-risk individuals must be turned into productive, contributing members of society. Unless something is done soon, a significant number of the disadvantaged youth will continue to experience failure and will continue to drop out of the school system, thus placing an even larger burden upon society as a whole.