3 ms·

I think you shouldn't equate "didn't graduate" with "can't graduate" - I feel that a large part, perhaps most, high school dropouts didn't drop out because of v

I think you shouldn't equate "didn't graduate" with "can't graduate" - I feel that a large part, perhaps most, high school dropouts didn't drop out because of various social issues, and for a young person without a high-school diploma, very likely lack of money and potential jobs, and very likely a lack of a supportive home environment, the army can provide a stable employment and a community that has its issues but is likely less abusive than whatever home environment prevented them from graduating high school.

mlrtime 3y ago
Correct, and a drill master has a lot more authority for discipline than a school teacher.
johnnyanmac 3y ago
I feel my "that student has environmental issues" agrees with your sentiment. I do agree that very few students who did not graduate truly can't pass the curriculum. And lower socioeconomic standing is a huge (if not biggest) reason. >the army can provide a stable employment and a community that has its issues but is likely less abusive than whatever home environment prevented them from graduating high school. For such a student I feel it's out of the frying pan and into the fire. Now they are bound to the government for X years for everything, from a meager pay to living quarters (you also needed to look the way they told you to look, but I think they are relaxing those hair/tattoo codes a bit). You go where they tell you to go and do what they tell you to do. And "leaving your job" if it's not for you means you can be put at trial. It's an awful lot of a gamble being taken here for someone who likely hasn't addressed their core traumas to begin with.
- PeterisP 3y ago
  I'm just saying that there isn't a safety net that provides a better alternative, such a high-school dropout without a supporting family becoming homeless does even less for their core traumas than being told what to do in the army; whatever the drawbacks are, for many this is legitimately the least worst option that's available to them.
  - johnnyanmac 3y ago
    Perhaps. That's what brought my main point of the feeling being "entrapment" (i don't know the exact term for this sort of phenomenon). Hey, did our system utterly fail you? Submit yourself to us and we'll fix the problem we continue to propogate! You don't even need to complete the educational system we outlined anymore, just be a warm body to throw at future battles for oil. There's less incentive to provide proper housing when you can instead put your citizens in barracks.

mlrtime 3y ago

Correct, and a drill master has a lot more authority for discipline than a school teacher.

johnnyanmac 3y ago

I feel my "that student has environmental issues" agrees with your sentiment. I do agree that very few students who did not graduate truly can't pass the curriculum. And lower socioeconomic standing is a huge (if not biggest) reason. >the army can provide a stable employment and a community that has its issues but is likely less abusive than whatever home environment prevented them from graduating high school. For such a student I feel it's out of the frying pan and into the fire. Now they are bound to the government for X years for everything, from a meager pay to living quarters (you also needed to look the way they told you to look, but I think they are relaxing those hair/tattoo codes a bit). You go where they tell you to go and do what they tell you to do. And "leaving your job" if it's not for you means you can be put at trial. It's an awful lot of a gamble being taken here for someone who likely hasn't addressed their core traumas to begin with.

PeterisP 3y ago
I'm just saying that there isn't a safety net that provides a better alternative, such a high-school dropout without a supporting family becoming homeless does even less for their core traumas than being told what to do in the army; whatever the drawbacks are, for many this is legitimately the least worst option that's available to them.
- johnnyanmac 3y ago
  Perhaps. That's what brought my main point of the feeling being "entrapment" (i don't know the exact term for this sort of phenomenon). Hey, did our system utterly fail you? Submit yourself to us and we'll fix the problem we continue to propogate! You don't even need to complete the educational system we outlined anymore, just be a warm body to throw at future battles for oil. There's less incentive to provide proper housing when you can instead put your citizens in barracks.