More people should consider dropping out of high school, particularly if they:
Don’t find their classes interesting
Have self-motivation
Don’t plan on going to university
In most places, once you reach an age younger than the typical age of graduation you are not legally obligated to attend school. Many continue because it’s normal, but some brief analysis could reveal that graduating is not worth the investment for you.
Some common objections I heard:
It’s only n more months, why not finish?
Why finish?
What if ‘this whole thing’ doesn’t pan out?
The mistake in this objection is thinking there was a single reason I wanted to leave school. I was increasing my free time, not making a bet on a particular technology.
My parents would never consent to this.
In some cases this is true. You might be surprised if you demonstrate long term commitment and the ability to get financial support though.
Leaving high school is not the right decision for everyone, but many students won’t even consider it. At least make the option available to yourself.
What’s the epistemic backing behind this claim, how much data, what kind? Did you do it, how’s it gone? How many others do you know of dropping out and did it go well or poorly?
I dropped out one month ago. I don’t know anyone else who has dropped out. My comment recommends students consider dropping out on the grounds that it seemed like the right decision for me, but it took me a while to realize this was even a choice.
So far my experience has been pleasant. I am ~twice as productive. The total time available to me is ~2.5-3x as much as I had prior. The excess time lets me get a healthy amount of sleep and play videogames without sacrificing my most productive hours. I would make the decision again, and earlier if I could.
I dropped out after 10th grade. I messed around at home, doing some math and programming, for ~6 years, then started working programming jobs at age 22 (nearly 10 years ago). I’d say results were decent.
A friend of mine dropped out after 11th grade. He has gone back and forth between messing around (to some extent with math and programming; in later years, with meditation) and working programming jobs, and I think is currently doing well with such a job. Probably also decent.
(And neither of us went to college, although I think my friend may have audited some classes.)
It might be useful to have some test for “have self-motivation”, to reduce the number of people who believe they have it, they quit school, and then it turns out they actually don’t.
Or maybe, it’s not just whether you feel motivated right now, but how long that feeling stays, on average.
I do think you’re correct that it would be a good decision for some. I would also say establishing this as a norm might induce some to take the easy way out and it be a mistake for them.
Might be the case that councelors should be prepared to have a real converstation with HS students that come to that decision but not really make it one schools promote as a path forward. But I do know I was strongly encouraged to complete HS even when I was not really happy with it (and not doing well by many metrics) but recognized as an intelligent kid. I often think I should have just dropped out, got me GED, worked (which I was already doing and then skipping school often) and then later pursued college (which I also did a few years after I graduated HS). I do feel I probably lost some years playing the expected path game.
More people should consider dropping out of high school, particularly if they:
Don’t find their classes interesting
Have self-motivation
Don’t plan on going to university
In most places, once you reach an age younger than the typical age of graduation you are not legally obligated to attend school. Many continue because it’s normal, but some brief analysis could reveal that graduating is not worth the investment for you.
Some common objections I heard:
It’s only n more months, why not finish?
Why finish?
What if ‘this whole thing’ doesn’t pan out?
The mistake in this objection is thinking there was a single reason I wanted to leave school. I was increasing my free time, not making a bet on a particular technology.
My parents would never consent to this.
In some cases this is true. You might be surprised if you demonstrate long term commitment and the ability to get financial support though.
Leaving high school is not the right decision for everyone, but many students won’t even consider it. At least make the option available to yourself.
What’s the epistemic backing behind this claim, how much data, what kind? Did you do it, how’s it gone? How many others do you know of dropping out and did it go well or poorly?
I dropped out one month ago. I don’t know anyone else who has dropped out. My comment recommends students consider dropping out on the grounds that it seemed like the right decision for me, but it took me a while to realize this was even a choice.
So far my experience has been pleasant. I am ~twice as productive. The total time available to me is ~2.5-3x as much as I had prior. The excess time lets me get a healthy amount of sleep and play videogames without sacrificing my most productive hours. I would make the decision again, and earlier if I could.
Anecdata: I got some benefits from school, but the costs were overwhelming. I probably should have dropped out after kindergarten; certainly before fourth grade. https://tsvibt.blogspot.com/2022/05/harms-and-possibilities-of-schooling.html
I dropped out after 10th grade. I messed around at home, doing some math and programming, for ~6 years, then started working programming jobs at age 22 (nearly 10 years ago). I’d say results were decent.
A friend of mine dropped out after 11th grade. He has gone back and forth between messing around (to some extent with math and programming; in later years, with meditation) and working programming jobs, and I think is currently doing well with such a job. Probably also decent.
(And neither of us went to college, although I think my friend may have audited some classes.)
It might be useful to have some test for “have self-motivation”, to reduce the number of people who believe they have it, they quit school, and then it turns out they actually don’t.
Or maybe, it’s not just whether you feel motivated right now, but how long that feeling stays, on average.
I do think you’re correct that it would be a good decision for some. I would also say establishing this as a norm might induce some to take the easy way out and it be a mistake for them.
Might be the case that councelors should be prepared to have a real converstation with HS students that come to that decision but not really make it one schools promote as a path forward. But I do know I was strongly encouraged to complete HS even when I was not really happy with it (and not doing well by many metrics) but recognized as an intelligent kid. I often think I should have just dropped out, got me GED, worked (which I was already doing and then skipping school often) and then later pursued college (which I also did a few years after I graduated HS). I do feel I probably lost some years playing the expected path game.
April is still n=9 months away.