Rachel Gretlein
The film drop out nation follows the life of 4 high school students trying their best to
make it to graduation. Each student suffers from their own personal problems,
which are negatively affecting how often they come to school as well as their overall
levels of effort. This film saddened me quite a bit; hearing the student’s stories and
struggles was something that I felt no child that age should have to endure. It made
me feel extremely grateful to have a loving and supportive family, as well as things
that I take for granted every day like a place to sleep and constant food. I felt like the
educators that we got to know in the film really did have the student’s best interest
and tried very hard to make them successful. It was upsetting that 3 out of the 4
were unable to graduate, and I think the teachers and principle felt the same way.
For me personally I am not sure if my high school had an issue with students
dropping out or not. I personally did not know of anyone who dropped out.
However there were several students that got moved to a different program that I
believe was for students who were failing or maybe seemed like they may possibly
try and drop out. I think the biggest thing I took away from this film is that a lot of
students, myself included have been so lucky to come from good backgrounds and
have stable family lives. When watching these kids they all had one thing in common
which was that they were really missing that support of parents or family members
to encourage them. One of the reasons that I think helped Marco be able to graduate
is that his mom was at least in his life and was probably able to support and
