Helping troubled Students to stay in School

By Michael Vierck

As I enter Richmond High School at 7:42 A.M. on April 11, 2001, I look around. I see students, a lot of students. I don't know many of these students, I don’t know where they live, and I don’t know their family situations. However, I know this: Many of these students are troubled and many are probably going to drop out of school. Every school has troubled students; we see examples in the news everyday. The question is, how can we help these troubled students with their problems and keep them in school? This question has many answers.

Helping troubled students starts with spotting the at-risk ones. Our teachers need to interact with the students and spot the at-risk ones. These students need to be given attention and feel like others care about them and their education. We can do this by having them meet with counselors who can talk to them about their problems and find ways to resolve them. We also need to establish a curriculum for them that focuses on skill acquisition and the individual academic and social needs of every student. After this, our schools need to monitor their progress towards graduation.

Our schools also need to help students who are at-risk because of their behavior. Many tragic incidents such as Columbine could have been prevented if people had talked to the students about their problems. Teachers again need to interact with the students and spot the ones at-risk because of behavior. These students should not be punished with suspensions and restrictions. We need programs that teach students about proper behavior, instead of punishing them for improper behavior. Counselors should meet with these students and talk to them about what is causing their behavior.

After learning about what is causing their behaviors, these counselors need to work with the students on establishing goals that will improve them. The students should keep meeting with the counselor until they think the students’ problems have been corrected. They should then continue to monitor the students to make sure they are getting along well.

Most troubled students come from very troubled families. They may feel as if no one cares about them or their future. Their families might not have even taught them the difference between right and wrong. Our school needs to interact with families so they can find out more about the student. Our school also needs to get families more involved in their children’s education. If a student comes from a troubled family, we need to provide him or her with mentors and other good people to support them.

Many times these students are labeled as "bad kids," when most of the time they are not. These students want attention, so they do bad things to get it. We need to get them involved in activities that boost their self-esteem; activities like sports, clubs, and study programs. This will give them the attention they want. It is a proven fact that students involved in these activities tend to do better in school, have more friends, and have a higher self-esteem.

Dropping out of school is bad for students who drop out, and bad for the community. Without a high school degree, many job opportunities are not available. This puts drop-outs in low wage jobs, probably for the rest of their lives. They will not have as many opportunities in life, simply because they do not make very much money. This will carry over to their children and make them more prone to drop out. Many of the policies I have talked about have been used in other schools, with much success. If Richmond High School can implement policies similar to these, it will be a benefit to everyone. Not only will the dropout rate decrease, but students will want to go to school more and get better grades. In addition, we must improve on what we are doing and add new methods.

Finally, we as students need to befriend and help troubled kids. We cannot expect only our school to help them. We need to welcome them into our school, and not make fun of them or ignore them because of their problems. H. Jackson Brown said, "Kind words and good deeds are eternal. You never know where their influence will end." Our influence on troubled students can be so great, and we never know how far it will go.

Michael Vierck is a Sophomore at Richmond (Indiana) High School, where he participates on the swim team. He is active in First Baptist Church and Young Life, and is known as "a deep thinker who can play a mean round of Putt-Putt."