Gang Mental Illness Versus Dropouts
Your Name Here e3 Civic High
Mental health is a big concern in the United States, and it is a contributing factor to both gangs, and school dropouts. The common mental health issues in gang members are fairly similar to the typical mental health problems in high school dropouts. Many separate prior studies have shown the similarities. However, dropouts and gang activity could be minimized by adding mental support, and stimulation inside and outside of classes. The main challenge is that focus is not placed enough on counseling. It is rehabilitation based instead of preventative. Problems should be solved before they become prevalent, and problems can only be caught that early if kids …show more content…
Added funding would obviously be appreciated by these future productive citizens, which betterhighschools.org makes this point well by saying, “School nurses spend 33% of their time provididng mental health services.” (Gourley, 2009). School nurses should be able to deal with the injuries and sick kids and added counselors and mental support staff should be added to schools, to monitor and ensure that kids who need mental support are getting what they need. By simply reaching teens with mental illnesses, gang numbers could reduce as well as the percent of kids dropping out. Cdc.com says, “doctors and educators should work together to help reduce dropouts.” (Paddock, 2013) reducing dropouts would also show reduced gang activity, and it would help communities, like San Diego, curtail the two biggest hurdles between high school students and high school graduates. One of the most striking statistics found was in a study by Northeastern University, which said a high school dropout (between 16 and 24) is about 63 times more likely to end up in jail. This is not related to the actual act of dropping out, but is rather another showing of character by that person. In addition, the National Gang Crime Research Center writes, “In Illinois, approximately 80 to 90 percent of the inmates coming into the prison system were gang members on the …show more content…
But it would be easy enough to allow families to opt out, and it would not be very invasive to talk to every student once or twice per year to check their mental stability. To break the loop of mentally ill teens going to jail, educators and doctors need to acknowledge that students become gang members and high school dropouts because of their problems that existed prior to doing these thing.
To conclude, the problem facing youth today is the school to prison pipeline. The middlemen in this epidemic, are more often than not gangs and dropping out. The schools push kids with even the slightest mental problem away, causing kids to join a gang to get the support that they do not have at school and may not have at home. Schools need to take action to stop the school to prison pipeline, and ensure that this generation and all future generations get a good education, but not at the cost of their life long
Your Name Here e3 Civic High
Mental health is a big concern in the United States, and it is a contributing factor to both gangs, and school dropouts. The common mental health issues in gang members are fairly similar to the typical mental health problems in high school dropouts. Many separate prior studies have shown the similarities. However, dropouts and gang activity could be minimized by adding mental support, and stimulation inside and outside of classes. The main challenge is that focus is not placed enough on counseling. It is rehabilitation based instead of preventative. Problems should be solved before they become prevalent, and problems can only be caught that early if kids …show more content…
Added funding would obviously be appreciated by these future productive citizens, which betterhighschools.org makes this point well by saying, “School nurses spend 33% of their time provididng mental health services.” (Gourley, 2009). School nurses should be able to deal with the injuries and sick kids and added counselors and mental support staff should be added to schools, to monitor and ensure that kids who need mental support are getting what they need. By simply reaching teens with mental illnesses, gang numbers could reduce as well as the percent of kids dropping out. Cdc.com says, “doctors and educators should work together to help reduce dropouts.” (Paddock, 2013) reducing dropouts would also show reduced gang activity, and it would help communities, like San Diego, curtail the two biggest hurdles between high school students and high school graduates. One of the most striking statistics found was in a study by Northeastern University, which said a high school dropout (between 16 and 24) is about 63 times more likely to end up in jail. This is not related to the actual act of dropping out, but is rather another showing of character by that person. In addition, the National Gang Crime Research Center writes, “In Illinois, approximately 80 to 90 percent of the inmates coming into the prison system were gang members on the …show more content…
But it would be easy enough to allow families to opt out, and it would not be very invasive to talk to every student once or twice per year to check their mental stability. To break the loop of mentally ill teens going to jail, educators and doctors need to acknowledge that students become gang members and high school dropouts because of their problems that existed prior to doing these thing.
To conclude, the problem facing youth today is the school to prison pipeline. The middlemen in this epidemic, are more often than not gangs and dropping out. The schools push kids with even the slightest mental problem away, causing kids to join a gang to get the support that they do not have at school and may not have at home. Schools need to take action to stop the school to prison pipeline, and ensure that this generation and all future generations get a good education, but not at the cost of their life long