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Parents

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It was no easy choice to place the blame on parents for low graduation rates. The problem of low graduation rates is complex and multifaceted. It's a reflection of the current state of our nation as a whole. The breakdown of the family and family values, the political climate, perpetually changing educational theories, cultural diversity and immigration, economics, societal influences via music and television, etc, all play a role in why high school graduation rates are low. In addition, specifically in regards to parental influence and how there are no guarantees in life, we may all know children from severely dysfunctional homes who have graduated with honors, and children from indisputably solid homes who did not graduate at all. However, the biggest influence on children is still that of their parents.

Why do I believe parents are more to blame than schools for low graduation rates? Here is just one example. In my community we have a large Mexican population. Culturally, especially among the migrant workers, they tend to value work over education and many have only a first or second grade education if they have gone to school at all. Their children are often uprooted from school to school if they attend school. Family is also valued over education. For non-migrant Mexicans, they may spend the month of December or January in Mexico each year to visit family, regardless of the academic interruption it causes to their children and the school. It's unlikely that graduation rates will ever be as high as they could be in our valley because of familial influence, regardless of what the schools do.

Parents must take an active rather than a passive role in passing on the value of education to their children. If a child doesn't have the belief that education is important, and a career goal that requires a diploma, it would be far easier for them not to graduate. After all, graduation requires hard work and delayed gratification. Among many high school students these days, it is not cool to work hard and aim for A's. The desire to fit in and be popular is so strong in high school that some students will sacrifice almost anything to be accepted, including good grades and their diploma. If they have little to no home support and they are in with a "bad" group of friends, graduation becomes even more improbable. In addition, while the schools say they want all students to graduate, and although they are forced to adopted "No Child Left Behind", in reality they

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