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I am not sure that you can absolutely place the blame on either the parents or the school systems for the low high school graduation rate. It is a little of both. As the parent of a 17 year old dropout, I know that children can only be academically successful if both the parents and school staff on on the same page.

We have to look first at the laws that govern truancy. Once a child reaches the age of 16, they can quit school without a parents permission and truancy is no longer applicable. We need to initiate and support legislation that changes the truancy age. The state in which I reside has a graduate drivers licensing program in which parents can revoke the drivers licenses of their teens but let's be serious...they need that license if they are eventually going to get out of the house. Plus, we all know that we could use the extra help with the errands.

At the end of last year, my daughter starting having some emotional issues including shop lifting, cutting herself, depression, and skipping classes. Upon researching on the Internet, I found that these issues affect 1 out of 8 teenage girls between the ages of 13-18. Luckily, my daughter was open about the problems and told me that she was skipping classes and going to the bathroom to cut herself...on school property. I met with her guidance counselor, however, he did NOT inform me of the in-school psychologist available for my child. His suggestion was that she "apply herself and work harder".

I can't even find blame in her friends. They are all high achievers and do well in school and in their extracurricular activities.

So what is a parent to do? We can't go to the school and walk the child to class. We can make sure they get to the school but we can't make sure they get to their classes. My daughter failed 6 of 8 classes that trimester. This was mainly due to skipping classing and getting no credit when she did attend. Many readers and responders will say "you have to punish them". Take away their cell phone, their transportation, and their Internet. Well, I tried all of that and I know that it leads to a child that just sits in their room and gets increasingly depressed and lonely.

During the summer, my daughter received counseling and support for her emotional issues. Even the psychologist stated that in-school support would have been crucial to my daughters academic success. I blame the guidance counselor for not informing me of that much needed resource.

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