Students-At-Risk

What Social Problems Affect Schools & Place Students At Risk?

• A complex and varied array of social issues affects schools today.
• Many times these problems detract from the ability of schools to educate students.
• Effective teachers understand how social issues influence student learning.
• They are able to reduce the negative impact of those issues.

 STUDENTS AT RISK:

• Students whose living conditions and backgrounds place them at risk for dropping out of school.
• Many children in the US live in families that help them grow up healthy, confident, and skilled, but many do not.
• Sometimes families become dysfunctional, unable to provide their children with the support and guidance they need.

 Many at risk students have experienced:

• adverse childhood
• poverty
• substance abuse
• emotional and behavioral disorders (depression, anxiety)
• learning disabilities
• institutionally driven mobility
• poor mental and physical health
• exposure to antisocial peers
• poor family-school relationships

Crazy Stats (2010)

• 7000 students decide to drop out of school
• 1.2 million students each year
• 70% of entering high school freshmen graduate every year

      

CHILDREN AND POVERTY:

• 18% of children live in poverty
• About half of all homeless children do not attend school regularly
•  DUE TO:
1. Overcome health problems, hunger, obtain clothing and school supplies
2. Providing documentation for school enrollment such as birth certificate,               immunization records, and documentation of legal guardianship
3. Homeless shelters and other temporary housing may not be on regular                             school bus routes, making transportation difficult

FAMILY STRESS:

• Stress can be overwhelming and it is not easily handled.
• Stress is often associated with:
• Health and emotional problems
• Failure too achieve
• Behavioral problems at school
• Dropping out of school

• Divorces, blended families, and single parents have increased dramatically the last decade.
• Many children are left unsupervised during the day due to the family circumstances (latchkey).
• Many schools offer before and after school programs.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE:

• One of the most pressing social problems confronting today’s schools is the abuse of illegal drugs, tobacco, and alcohol.
• For an alarming number of young people, drugs are seen as a way of coping with life’s problems.

VIOLENCE AND CRIME:

• Urban students were more likely to report street gangs in their schools (36%) than the suburban (21%) and rural (16%) students.
• Warning signs of violence:
• Loss of temper
• Frequent physical fighting
• Significant vandalism or property damage
• Increase in the use of drugs or alcohol
• Increase in risk- taking behavior
• Detailed plans to commit acts of violence
• Announcing threats or plans for hurting others
• Enjoying hurting animals
• Carrying a weapon

BULLYING:

• Over 2/3 of cases, the attackers prior experience of bullying appeared to play a major role in motivating the attack at school.
• 32% of 12-18 year old students reported having been bullied at school during the last year.
• Caused by:
• Being made fun of (21%)
• Rumors (18%)
• Pushed, Shoved, Tripped (11%)
• Threatened with Harm (6%)
• Excluded from activities on purpose (5%)
• Peer pressure (4%)

CYBERBULLY:

• Using information or communication technologies to harass or threaten an individual or group.
• Ex: Send harassing emails or instant messages, post obscene, insulting, and slanderous messages to online bulletin boards
• Females students were more likely to have experienced cyberbullying.

 TEEN PREGNANCY:

• Each year, almost 750,000 US teenagers between 15-19 become pregnant
• 3/4 of these are unintended
• Teenage mothers are at risk for long term problems in many major areas of life (school failure, poverty, physical/mental illness.)
• Many times they drop out and forfeit their high school diplomas and limit their access to decent higher pay job opportunities therefore they stay at the bottom of the economic ladder.

SUICIDE:

• Third leading cause of death for young people ages 15-24
• 15% grades 9-12 seriously considered suicide in previous year 
• Females students are almost two times more likely than males to attempt
• Four times as many male students actually commit suicide
• 30% of all completed suicides among youth are lesbian and gay

VIDEO: 

Work Cited:

Parkay, Forrest W. Becoming A Teacher. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:

           Pearson, n.d. Print.