Each school year brings children the hope of studying better than the next year and succeeding with good grades. But few students drop out of school before they even finish the school year and drop out of school.
Students drop out of school for many reasons such as dissatisfaction with their studies or school, extremely high expectations and peer pressure, many circumstantial reasons, strong pressure from parents and many Moreover. Leaving school without completing your studies can lead to lower paying jobs, unemployment, a precarious economic status due to unemployment, and much more.
Teachers, seniors, elders or even friends can motivate a student not to leave school without completing their studies, thus helping them in difficult times or situations. Few effective strategies on the part of teachers can retain students who insist on dropping out. Here are some effective strategies that parents and teachers can use to help prevent students from dropping out:
Strategies for parents:
- Have a friendly conversation and hear the child’s point of view
- Persuade the child not to give up with reasonable options
- Building a healthy relationship with the child
- Provide mental health support
Strategies for teachers:
- Offer a personal counseling session to the receptive student.
- Persuade the sensitive student not to give up with reasonable counter-options.
- Offer a personal tutoring session to the sensitive student.
- Discuss with the sensitive student’s parents.
Strategies for parents:
1. Have a friendly conversation and listen to the child’s point of view
Having a friendly conversation and hearing the child’s perspective on why they quit may be the most effective and crucial step in persuading them not to give up. Talking in a friendly and honest way can help the child open up and talk about the problem they are facing and discuss it frankly to find the solution. Having a friendly conversation and listening to the child’s point of view can be useful for:
- Encourage the child not to give up.
- Give hope to the child by receiving help.
2. Persuade the child not to give up with reasonable options
Persuading a child not to drop out of school can be difficult when the child has already made a decision. This can only be done by offering alternatives or better options than the current situation. These options may include:
- Change course or college.
- Change school.
- Try vocational school if the child does not like conventional educational institutions.
- Try traditional teaching options.
- Experience private lessons or personal mentoring sessions.
3. Build a healthy relationship with the child
Building a healthy relationship with the child is very important for the growth of the child. If a child feels mental security and support with his parents, he automatically comes and discusses openly the problems he is facing in school or in life. Tips for building a healthy relationship with your child:
- Listen to the child’s point of view.
- Pay attention to their activities and guide them accordingly.
- Be a friend.
4. Provide mental health support
It is important to provide all kinds of support for children, but the most important is mental health support. The child may face serious mental health issues such as peer pressure, fear of being left out, fear of missing school, fear of failing exams, getting lower grades, etc All these issues that the child is facing should be discussed by the parents in a very polite and friendly way without getting angry or frustrated with the child. Thus ensuring the child’s safety and stability. Encouraging and providing positive affirmation to the child can be helpful at such crucial times.
Strategies for teachers:
1. Provide a personal counseling session to the receptive student.
Counseling sessions help teachers better understand students. Students considering dropping out can first receive advice from these counselors or teachers before making a decision. Young minds need proper guidance and mental support to deal with societal pressures. Showing students real problems and mentally reinforcing them can be part of counseling sessions.
2. Persuade the sensitive student not to give up with reasonable counterattack options.
Persuading the likely student not to fall can be a demanding task for teachers, as the student may have already made up their minds. Young minds often need a divergence or some other form of persuasion. Not all students can understand the same methods or techniques. Each child has a unique way of coaxing thoughts and tasks. Reasonable counter-options for not giving up can:
- Know the student’s interests and abilities.
- Suggest a change of course or college.
- Provide additional tutoring if the student cannot understand what is being taught.
- Pay special attention to the student.
3. Offer a personal tutoring session to the receptive student.
Offering a predisposed student a personalized tutoring session is a way to help a student who is not able to follow the same teaching methods and techniques as other students of his age or class. Each student has a unique learning style or retention capacity for retaining the information taught. A personal tutoring session can help the student understand everything that is taught in your method and convince him not to drop out of school.
4. Discuss with the parents of the receptive student.
Sometimes the child may face a problem at home due to which he is unable to concentrate on what is being taught, so falling behind and receiving lower grades may hinder his motivation to continue his studies. In such cases, even the parents are not aware of the problem the child is facing. Thus, to help the student, the teacher must take the initiative and ask the child about the problems and try to solve them by discussing them with the parents.