What should the legal age be for students to be allowed to drop out of school?

You have got to be kidding! I'm 37 and will be working for long time. Show me a 37 year old stripper let alone one in their 30's making bank. How ever wrote that needs to think ahead more than a year. Too funny

"Stupid is as stupid does". Have at it but that attitude will leave you out in the end and you will probably become part of the taxpayers "extended family" at some point.

There is a reason strippers don't have to finish high school. Go ahead little one, live in your fantasy world. Ignorance is bliss.

As far as incorrect spelling, you fit right in there.

Excellent troll my friend. Lookie how many have their pantys in a wad over your silly blog. I'll give you a 10 for being original.

Dear Student;
I felt just like you seem to when I was in school. But after years of trying to get by on my common sense, I decided to go back to school as an adult, because I saw that my lack of book smarts was holding me back. It sounds like maybe traditional school isn't teaching you in a way that you need to learn. Maybe your parents can look into other alternatives for you instead of you dropping out completely. I can honestly say that when I got older, there were things I was taught in school that I use to this day. Maths, english, history. I didn't catch onto math too well, and really that was one thing that made me quit at 16. I just didn't get it, and didn't have help with it, so I gave up. But now that I am older and working, I really wish I had spoken up and got some help, because I need that knowledge and it is harder to find the time to learn as an adult because I have bills to pay and a family to support. I guess what I'm saying is that you will have a lot more success in your dreams and goals if you prepare for them now. Learning the discipline of getting your education is alot like learning the discipline of martial arts. It takes patience and practice. If you need help because you are frustrated, ask for it. Get your parents to help you find it. But whatever you do, please, please, please don't give up on it. School can be boring and annoying, but it is so important.

Yes, go to Peru. It might be a good place for you. You can dream about your goal of getting a job and practice martial arts there.

I DROPPED OUT AT 16 AND I STILL HAVE ALOT MORE THEN THE ONES THAT FINISHED SCHOOL.I HAD TO DROP OUT TO MAKE SURE THAT ME AND MY SON HAD A PLACE TO STAY AND F0OOD. TO EAT I FELT LIKE THAT WAS NOT MY MOMS RESONDSIBLITY IT WAS MINE BECAUSE I MAD THAT CHOICE TO HAVE A CHILD AT A EARLY AGE. DO WANT YOU FEEL AND DONT LET OTHERS GIVE YOU THEY'RE WAYS OF HOW THEY WANT YOU TO LIVE. YOU HAVE TO LIVE YOUR LIFE AND I SAY LIVE IT TO THE FULLEST YOU CAN BE GONE TODAY OR TOMORROW.SCHOOL REALLY DON'T HELP SOME OF US YOU GOT TO HAVE MORE COMMON SENSE IN THIS WORLD WE ARE LIVING IN. HAVE FUN WITH YOUR LIFE AND I WISH YOU THE BEST IN ANYTHING YOU DO. AND FOR ALL YOU THAT HAVE SOMETHING NEGATIVE TO SAY GET A F***ING LIFE AND STOP TELLING OTHERS WHAT TO DO WITH THERE YOURS CANT BE ANY BETTER

Who are you kidding? your in 9th grade and you have all the answers. Let me clue you into something, I do not want to support you when you cannot support yourself.

If you had common sense (wanting to drop out of school tells me you have none) you would know that education is something that no one can take away from you. You say you want to "get a jod, live on a farm in Peru" how do you plan to get a job? how are you going to farm the land? what about keeping books for your business? have you ever grown anything?

Please, I know that you think you know it all, you know nothing. Go to school, get a free education and then rule the world if you want..BUT STAY IN SCHOOL, GET AN EDUCATION AND TRUST ME WHEN YOU ARE 30, YOU WILL BE SO GLAD THAT YOU DID.

You sound as dumb as a door knob. Your current level of education will get you a minimum wage job for life. Do martial arts, for a living? Work on a farm in Peru?[You've watched too many Juan Valdez Folger coffee commercial's]. Your current level of expertise might get you a job at McDonald's[they use picture's] or cutting someones grass. Common sense is gained by experienced utilization of an academic education.

Middle school? Thats an 8th grade education. How are you going to pursue other things with no driver license or car? Money might help as well, you will never get to Peru on minimum wage and that is what you will earn as an 8th grade drop out. Gezzzz and YOU think you have common sense?

Please, please please please tell me this post is a joke. Does school keep you from doing martial arts? Let's face it. If you're 14 years old and want to be some martial arts master, you should have probably started by age 5. Turn off the Walker Texas Ranger and open a textbook.

A farm in Peru? Wow my man, great ambition. I'm sure someone down there would be glad to give you a "jod" karate kicking the corn stalks.

Thanks God that most people have the drive to graduate and go to college, because someone will need to be over-taxed by the democrats to pay for your sorry butt and all your equally sorry future kids.

My advice, give up your body to science asap.

As everybody else who reads your post we can see just how much better you will be dropping out. I don't know if it's your typing skills, or just general English that confuses you. But I agree that if you feel that strongly about it, please do drop out. McDonald's and Wendy's are hiring. Your dreams and goals can't have anything to do with being the slightest bit educated. I'm sure you can find a decent "jod" doing martial arts... I hear professional wrestlers are in need since they keep dying of drug overdoses and steroid use. Maybe a couple of knocks to the head with a chair will turn on a light bulb for you. But all in all, I do agree. If you don't want to be there, don't. You are only hindering the other students from learning and becoming intelligent human beings. Not to mention making the teachers jobs even harder and less rewarding than they already are.
P.S. in case you haven't learned this yet, my post was written with sarcasm. I am not happy for you, nor proud of you and your "intelligent decision". In fact I am very appalled that any human would NOT want to be educated. People like you piss me off. I worked hard to get my job, and work hard AT my job. I pay my taxes like I should. And what do they go to? People like YOU that have no desire to grow up and take responsibility for yourself and finish school so that you CAN get a good job to live off of. You are just another welfare leech. Congratulations.

You think your gonna live on a farm in Peru? You think your gonna get far on the income of your local gas station? I have hired employees BUT, one of the first things I look at is if you completed high school. Don't you think it shows you are a responsible person? Come on, grow up. I'm so sorry you feel this way about your future, good luck to you. All I have asked from my children is to bring me a diploma, what they do after that point is up to them but as long as they are with me I want a diploma. They both are great students!

I voted for 16. By the time you're 18 you should be so close to graduating, it would be stupid to drop out.

I say if a parent lets their kid drop out...then that parent better not be on public assistance and then that kid that drops out should not be able to apply in the future for public assistance.

I also feel that the kids that want to drop out should be taken on a field trip to more developed areas of the country to show them what an education can help lead to. Without that education, they're giving up any opportunity to make it in the corporate world.

But...when I between 16 and 18, I thought I knew everything too. Now 20 years later I look back and I'm glad I stayed in school. School, especially collage is more about the education learned from experiences vs the education from the classes.

Aren't the requirements to be a GED instructor like to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time? Are you serious? Graduating vs GED shows that one had the perseverance to set a goal and achieve it vs someone who tries to make up 4yrs in 10 weeks. GED diploma holds little weight compared to a high school diploma to any prospective employer.

Schools follow the money and prestige, just like almost everything else out there. They also like being labeled as an "Acedemic School of Excellence" by having a said percentage of students pass the EOG tests. Bush's No Child Left Behind Act is set up to cause failure. This begins in elementary school where certain students are left behind on purpose. There is also a secret way around the EOG tests. Did you know if you are in a position of failing your grade because you will more than likely fail the EOG, all you have to do is transfer to another school in your district a certain amount of time before the EOG is given, and by doing this, your EOG scores will not count towards your final grades because you did not attend that school for a determined amount of time? There are loop holes in the system. Also if you excel in sports the rules are bent to keep you on the team. There are many ways for our children to glide through school and not learn anything. I hate to say it, but I guess all these drop outs (over 40% of all students) are good for your business.

Ms. Miller, what high school are you talking about? Public or private high schools? NC School of Math and Science? Choate? Woodberry Forest? Cape Fear Academy?

Did you get your degree from the GED program?

I wonder how many GED graduates go on to get a degree from Duke or Harvard?

I wonder what the average SAT score is for a GED Grad?