Thinking about dropping out.

[Mcface]

Yeah, so I'm basicaly done with school. Still not sure 'bout this, and not doing anything drastic yet. Probably gonna try to tough it out, but I'm really unsure. I know most of the downsides, but I really want to hear some ideas/thoughts on this from some one else.

I'm only 15 (16 in Feb), so I may have to wait until I'm old enough to secure some kind of job...


So, opinions?

I dropped out, no jobs. so i got my diploma online (i suggest that or GED) Im joining the Army ASAP. you can't even join the army without a diploma.

Although public highschool is just bullshit, its not teaching you anything important. everything i know is self taught.

 

[Dags90]

Don't assume that everyone is wired this way, the vast majority of dropouts regret it.

Yes, but all the absolutist doomsayers aren't really doing anyone any good, either. Dropping out is an option, and a completely viable and possibly even recommended one. Anyone who is categorically against it is clearly not considering all the options. When it comes down to it, it's an option (and people do like options). It's not for everyone, but it is something to consider.

I don't want to think of where I'd be right now if I had stuck through high school and I'm glad no one said "AMAGAD YOU'S GONNA REGRET IT!". My GPA would've been trash and it'd have been impossible for me to have gotten into the school I did.

 

[boholikeu]

Why do you want to drop out? Perhaps the problem can be addressed.

I agree with the other posters.

I just totaly lack drive. I truely don't/can't give a shit. I'll sit there, knowing that my grade is plumeting and it doesn't bother me. All day I just sit there and phaze out, or serf around on my phone.

Honestly, it sounds like you are depressed, which means it would be a very bad idea to drop out now. If you lack drive now, what makes you think you are going to get enough drive to find a job that doesn't require a high school diploma (much less make it through the day-to-day boredom of that job)?

Also, what does make you feel motivated in life? Chances are that whatever your answer is to that question, a high school diploma will really help you achieve your goal. If your answer is "nothing", you definitely might want to consider talking to a counselor (most schools offer depression counseling for free).

 

[Diligent]

No, don't!
While I did not drop out of high school, I did actually drop out of college because at the time I felt the same way you did. I was riddled with anxiety issues and found it harder and harder to care anymore, until one day I just stopped going to classes. Too embarrassed to do anything about it, and tell my parents, I dicked around for the worst month of my entire life, and eventually moved home early.
Big waste of money and time, and while the money is not a consideration in high school, the time is.

No matter how you feel about it now, in ten years or less you absolutely will regret dropping out, and no matter what people tell you, just going to get a GED is not as easy as all that. Once you've been away from school for a few years it's very hard to go back.

Since dropping out, the last few years of my life (i.e. my twenties, supposedly my formative years) have been a total write off. I've been hopping from crap job to crap job with stretches of embarrassing unemployment, with no forward momentum.
And this is WITH a high-school diploma.
I'm sick of it, and am going back to school next year hoping to get into publishing, editing, or writing. Even though I know I'm capable and am now completely motivated to do it, I'm finding that many schools look at your high-school marks even as a mature student, which is bad because my marks are not that great (see aforementioned anxiety and not giving a shit).
If I can't get into a school, I really don't know what I'm going to do.

Short story, please stick with it, and at least try to keep your marks up, even if you don't care. If you think you don't care about what's happening in your life now, imagine how you'll feel in a few years when you see your friends making something of themselves and you're working the fryer at a Burger King. And maybe look into some sort of counseling, because I'm sure that would have helped me in high-school.

 

[octafish]

One more voice saying finish High School at least.

 

[Dr. Whiggs]

Unless you have a godlike talent or some brilliant invention sitting on the shelf, really, really don't.

 

[SeriousSquirrel]

Why do you want to drop out? Perhaps the problem can be addressed.

I agree with the other posters.

I just totaly lack drive. I truely don't/can't give a shit. I'll sit there, knowing that my grade is plumeting and it doesn't bother me. All day I just sit there and phaze out, or serf around on my phone.

Honestly, it sounds like you are depressed, which means it would be a very bad idea to drop out now. If you lack drive now, what makes you think you are going to get enough drive to find a job that doesn't require a high school diploma (much less make it through the day-to-day boredom of that job)?

Also, what does make you feel motivated in life? Chances are that whatever your answer is to that question, a high school diploma will really help you achieve your goal. If your answer is "nothing", you definitely might want to consider talking to a counselor (most schools offer depression counseling for free).

honestly, as long as I can pay for a small apartment, food (ramen, mac, etc. Are fine by me), and the occasional treat, I'm ok

 

[Weaver]

At least finish High School.

Trust me, it will help later in life. I'm not saying you have to go to college, but really. At least finish high school. A high school diploma is pretty much required for any job these days. And if you don't have one you'll be fucked in life.

Fully agreed with Irridium.

We all know high school sucked and we survived.
You're just going to have to deal with it.

 

[Space Spoons]

It's really not as bad as you think it is. Just stick it out for now, enjoy the free ride and hope like hell that the job market is a little better by the time you're done. Right now, even with a high school degree in your hands, your chances of finding a job are slim to none. Without? No chance whatsoever.

 

[TheXRatedDodo]

Dropping out was quite simply the best choice I have ever made in my life.

There is a subtle difference between education and learning.
Education is a process in which many other factors come into play, the main one being sociological manipulation and funneling.
You are taught to think and act in certain ways from a very, very young age and my ever-inquisitive mind always questioned these things as they were happening. The majority did not.
If I was told to go out of the classroom, I would stand there in the middle of the class and ask "Why?" Not because I wanted to cause further trouble or partake in rabble rousing and a game of mental to-and-fro with someone who is supposedly my superior (that someone being the teacher,) my 7 year old self could not comprehend such concepts, all I had was a desire to understand "Why?"

What I wanted, was to learn. What I have spent every minute of my time doing since I dropped out is learning.
If someone wants to learn, they will learn. I wanted to learn, and thus I have learnt, and I shall always continue to do so.
I have learnt about myself, about others, about society at large, about music, about art, film, culture, about my own spirituality, about what I personally desire from my life, how to get what I desire from life, the way society is structured... Simply too many things that have been far too essential that never got taught to me in school or colleege, because the things that I have thought about and studied and learnt have all bestowed with me the ability to see that we are all trapped in invisible cages until we find the ability to see them, and once we see them, they can no longer hold us.

However, having said all of this. I did first finish school, then go to College and make an attempt to finish it, twice infact.
I first did a Music BTEC, which I dropped out of due to family problems (and many personal ones, mainly brought on by being in College in the first place.)
Then everything went supposedly "to shit," I hit bottom about 9 months later, having returned to College to have a crack at A Levels (namely Psychology, Sociology and English Literature. I do not regret this in the slightest as I did legitimately get TAUGHT quite a lot in Sociology and English Literature, although Psychology held nothing for me aside from being mildly sickened by the way its entire point is to lump people into nice easy categorizations that do very little to encompass context, the journey one is on, etc. Sociology and English Literature taught me much about others and myself that were extremely crucial.)
I then dropped out this March. People came out of the woodwork to tell me I was throwing my life away, throwing my opportunities away, etc.
I spent months getting ludicrously wrapped up in all of this to the point where I once again hit bottom during this summer.
Dropping out of college was a symbolic death, swiftly followed by a symbolic rebirth, so it seemed fitting to make a conscious effort to shed everything that once represented me and to start anew.
At the end of the summer, around August, I went on holiday to Wales and spent a week being content in the mere fact that I exist. Nothing else matters aside from this, and since then I have been the calm little center, making everyone else uncomfortable for being so damn zen.
This realisation that nothing matters aside from contentment in one's existence has lead me to no longer see any point in currency, in morality, in society, or in much at all, and while that may sound very defeatist and negative, it is infact the exact opposite, it is complete enlightenment.
I am shed of earthly desires aside from following my intuition, but that is not a desire, that is just what feels right, desires in fact long since ceased to exist for me.

Sorry for the mega-post but I feel it was all needed in explaining just WHY dropping out was the best choice I ever made.
We get funelled down a certain path before we even get the chance to consciously question whether this is what we want and that part of me that questions everything didn't get corrupted at a young age.
QUESTION EVERYTHING and if what feels right to you is to drop out and pursue a different path, then I am going to be the one person that will advise you, nay, IMPLORE you to FOLLOW this and never, ever look back. Do not let others tell you otherwise, the sheer fact that you are asking demonstrates a strong unwillingness to not follow your most base, simplistic intuition and do what your soul is telling you to do.

Don't assume that everyone is wired this way, the vast majority of dropouts regret it.

I assume nothing. I have always had an exceptionally strong drive for self-betterment and come to this point out of a lot of hard work on my own part.
That said, once he drops out, SOMETHING will make him want something "more," whatever that "more" may manifest itself as, for me it was chasing the tail of enlightenment and then achieving it eventually, and still being on that journey now (as I always will be.)
Whatever that "more" manifests itself as for him, something will eventually light a fire under his ass, most likely the boredom.

 

[astrav1]

I guess if you want to be a dumb ass, but if you want to be of some use to the world and, more importantly, yourself at least finish High School as best you can.

 

[joshthor]

no. bad. bad. bad idea. i have 2 freinds that have dropped out. one is doing heavy manual labor and the other... i really dont know what he is doing. he knocked up a chick though. regardless it is not a good start on life. high school may seem hard but it really does prepare you for things, and it is a nessesary part of life.

 

[Tdc2182]

Don't be stupid. You're not going to get any job worth having if you screw up in school.
Finish high school, go to college. DO NOT BE A FUCK UP.

Trust me, I am one. It isn't a good life.

Doesnt get much simpler than that. Life doesnt get easier until you are about 50

 

[Glerken]

Why do you want to drop out? Perhaps the problem can be addressed.

I agree with the other posters.

I just totaly lack drive. I truely don't/can't give a shit. I'll sit there, knowing that my grade is plumeting and it doesn't bother me. All day I just sit there and phaze out, or serf around on my phone.

Dude.
Word of advice.
Start giving a fuck.

Now, sorry if this sounds harsh, but...

Don't be a failure. Work at something, it pays off. You can give a shit, you just don't.

Finish high school, find something you like, work hard at it, give it your all.
Or be a fuck up, not my life man, just some words of advice.
You get one life, why not make it a good one.

 

[Stuntkid]

I'm sorry to jump on the band wagon but... what? You want to dropout because you're bored? I can relate to you if you have bully troubles or corrupt teachers, but because you FEEL LIKE IT!? I'm not goanna sugar-coat it for you, that's just retarded. You can barely get a decant job with a bachelor's degree, especially in this economy. You spent 9 long years in the schooling system just so you can throw it all away!? K-12 school prepares you to have a desire and an innitiative for you future carrer. I'm sorry, but high school is only the first step. Your parents are probably not talking you out of it (if they know), but trust me. That degree you earn will make you think that grade school is child's play. I'm not sure what's going on in your life, but dropping school will only make shit a lot, lot worse.

I went to 4 different High Schools, everyone was against me. And for those who where nice to me only were so that they can turn on me in the future. I'm fortunate, because I learned early that a person's status or title means nothing about there character; you can deep-fry a turd, but I'm still not goanna eat that shit up. Teachers saw no value in me so they just look the other way when I got beat up, or find cheap-ass excuses when it's verbal. And the only reason Doctors and motivated speakers gave a fuck about the children is if they scravage through their parents salery so they can purchase their videos and shitty autobiographies. The only way these six figured fuckers will pay attention to you is if you get a degree as proof that you did your time and kicked ass at it too.

It's probably not how the world really works, but when they say it okay to drop out for your age (or AT ALL), they're wrong: dead wrong.

And the lesson learned about my experience is that even for all bullshit I went through I still got back up swinging, stood by my education so I can get a degree and prove all my doubters wrong. Don't fuck up, kid. Winners don't use drugs. And if you let assholes use you, they are just goanna shit all over your face.

You hear me, camil, the bums lost. THE BUMS WILL ALWAYS LOOSE! And quit stealing my rugs.

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

Speaking as a highschool dropout with a GED, trust me: you'll have a hard time so much as getting an interview if you can't say you have a diploma.

EDIT: Glad to see that every other person in this thread would call me a "fuck up" behind my back. You guys rule.

 

[superbatranger]

Personally, I think it's a bad idea. Finish high school, and after that see what you would want to do next. College, work, travel a bit, whatever. But do not, I repeat, do not drop out of high school.

 

[ArkhamJester]

tough out high school, practically required for anything above cashier, college makes things so much better, but you do have a shot with high school diploma (not a good one though)