Immigrant Students: Alternate Routes & Reasons

Immigrant Students: Alternate Routes & Reasons

            The struggles of immigrant students in the United States emerge from a multitude of reasons. Whether their struggles be from lack of guidance from their family or lack of motivation or financial hardships to stay involved in schooling, many immigrants will seek alternative routes from education to make their way in life. Alternative paths these students may find themselves taking include but aren’t limited to getting involved in the workforce at a young age, harsh reality of poverty. In other cases, some may enter intentionally or unintentionally into a life of crime. This essay will follow the idea of alternative routes immigrant students may seek in place of schooling, and the events or circumstances that lead them to choose these paths (Potochnick, 2018).

Historically and statistically, Immigrant students are no stranger to dropping out of school before high school graduation, and many do not pursue higher education.  For these students to pursue alternate paths from schooling, there has to be a reason for them to decide to depart from the school system in the first place. Multiple factors play into a student choosing to attend school no longer or continue onto a university. Many of these students do not have access to the necessary or implied guidance a typical student may receive while making their way through the education system in the US (Smith, 2018).

The reality is that these students do not have parents or role models with experience that can encourage them to stay in school or finish the process. Some do not have the guidance to find financial assistance for schooling (Potochnick, 2018). Many feel obligated to help their family financially. Most of the students face a lot of obstacles when they move to the new country. Change in life occurs since they are in a new culture which is strange, and there is a reason to worry.

Immigrant students face communication difficult which makes them feel disappointed and demoralized to even further their education. These could affect their academic progress negatively resulting in failures. Additionally, the parents might also be more disappointed if their children’s are not performing well in class though they see them struggling to have no otherwise rather than accepting there was a change in environment and they need to cope up (Ream & Rumberger, 2008). Migrants might be undergoing such challenges through the school could not understand and give them extra support.

Eventually, immigrant students might become scared and kind of confused which contribute to quitting their daily school routine like attending lectures, they might skip class which ultimately act as the ground of their failure in coursework and school dropout cases get to be universal.

According to statistics most of the school dropouts in the USA are immigrants, this population includes the blacks and Hispanics. During the previous few decades, many cases have been reported which substantially become the public agenda (Smith, 2018).

Regrettably taking this vital decision might make the school dropout take roots which will result in lifetime consequences. The dropouts tend to be having a high tendency of becoming unemployed, being incarcerated, have a life full of poverty as well as poor health as these can be perpetuated by the majority of the school dropouts in the US (Potochnick, 2018).

There are many challenges associated with the routes taken by the school dropouts. The immigrants make the state suffer epidemic since there will be the loss of qualified workers, increased cases related to incarceration. Although there have been several declarations on how immigrant school dropout is becoming more calamitous, there is need to sensitize on the effects associated with school dropouts.

Cases of immigration school dropout are getting severe every day. If an individual decided to get out of school, they in a way tend to lessen the chances of securing a better profession in life. Additionally, they tend to lag behind the technology and have issues and challenges in adapting to modern era career requirements.

Factors contributing to immigrant’s student’s school dropouts

1. Poverty
2. Low literacy and achievement level

• Parenting responsibilities

1. Need for employment

According to the current research, there is no one main reason as to why there are cases of immigrant student school dropouts .researches shows that these students tend to face difficulties in transiting to high school. Additionally, there is not enough engagement and basic skills all these contribute to their failure to graduate from High School. Most immigrant skills lack the necessary financial support which could help to make them successful as they while in transition to the next level of education. High cases of school dropout have been put on limelight as a key social problem in the country. Increased number of school dropout will affect the country’s economy since not many undergraduates will secure jobs. This country has diverse immigrants from all over the world, and they might not have a good mastery of the English language though they are provided with programs such as ESOL though it is not provided efficiently.

Unskilled teachers, as well as thin school material and lack of interest from parents, play an integral part in contributing to the immigrant students towards school dropouts. All these results to frustrations to the immigrant students, additionally early pregnancies among the teenagers is a critical contributing factor of school dropouts.

Drug and substance abuse

Majority of the immigrants are influenced by their peers to involve themselves in drug and substance abuse. Such individuals take drugs so as reduce stress and match the behaviors of their peers. Drug and substance abuse might hook the teenagers in some unethical practices such as theft activities with the intention of gaining some funds to purchase drugs. According to research, such students could also cause pressure to their parents and guardians to support them with money to buy drugs (Potochnick, 2018).

Crimes activities

Another critical problem associated with the routes taken by the school dropouts could be getting themselves in criminal activities. The main aim of dropping from school could be to get money and become stable in society as soon as possible. This triggers the youth leave school and start engaging in criminal activities such as robbing and hijacking people to get money to meet their basic needs (Ream & Rumberger, 2008).

Some other students have mentalities that some of the successful people and celebrities all over the world have not completed their college. Including the top musicians like Jay –Z has a prosperous life yet they have never invested a lot in education. They tend to copy the lives of celebrities and engage in activities like the music industry.

Sexual immorality is another path taken by teenager once they fail to make it in school .they get involved in prostitution mostly the female to earn a living. This is very dangerous to their health as they risk contracting STD and HIV Aids.

Early marriages

Female students despite being a shame they have no one who could take care of their children and thus decide to quit school to work for themselves and support their children. Such students only think of getting someone to marry them to get any support in meeting their basic needs. Once these students move to the US, they find a new home with many job vacancies, for them to be able to support their families they may quit school to work to raise food and support to the family.

Street children

Majority of the street children are school dropouts; they are hopeless afterlife turned against their wishes and plans. Since they opted to drop from school thinking, they could secure a job it is painful to realize later that there is a structural change happening in the United States since many of the currently available jobs require persons having high education skills. Consequently, those having low educational qualification cannot be offered chances in the job market, the only option reaming ins engaging in crime, prostitution, early marriages and having poverty life full of poverty.

Seek employment

The only idea in mind of the of school dropout is that out there are good jobs which could support them and help them manage to live a better life once in school they have fee problems or live in whole financial issues. They, therefore, tend to drop from school with the aim of getting jobs even the low paying jobs are fitting to such individual since they have no many duties and responsibilities which require a lot of money (Smith, 2018).

Suicide risk

School dropouts might also decide to commit suicide, to leave the challenges they face in the world. Many immigrants are at this risk since they consider themselves unfit to the new culture, education system and even the social life to get rid of the steers of life they regrettably commit suicide (Smith, 2018).

Conclusion

Dropping out of school has resulted in severe economic problems as a result of the paths taken by the school dropouts. The government should come up with policies and program aimed at mitigating the high rates of immigrant’s school dropouts. These would lead to economic advancement.

References

Potochnick, S. (2018). The Academic Adaptation of Immigrant Students with Interrupted Schooling. American Educational Research Journal, 0002831218761026.

Ream, R. K., & Rumberger, R. W. (2008). Student engagement, peer social capital, and school dropout among Mexican American and non-Latino white students. Sociology of education, 81(2), 109-139.

Smith, E. (2018). Dropout Rate Among Chicano and Latino Immigrant High School Students.