Chapter 9: When Things Go Wrong

"He was passing, and they never called home" ~ Mahogany (page 165)

This quote comes from the chapter in the section about skipping school and dropping out. One factor pertaining to if students skip or drop out of school is if they feel noticed. Students who do not feel noticed feel the temptation to cut school, since in their minds they will not be missed in school. This quote describes what students observe in the classroom with other students who are often absent. The other part of this chapter I found to be important was when it discussed how teenagers just want to learn. They also discussed that the best way for a teacher to make a connection with the students is to just do the job of teaching and the rest will work itself out. If students see their teacher's passion and will to teach and work with students it will cause the students to at least respect the teacher and put forth suitable effort.

I thought this chapter was brought up good topics and related to my high school experience. I was one of those students that cut class a lot and did not worry about not being there. I knew I could handle the workload and it took a long time before someone said anything to me because I always had good grades. During my senior year my principal tried to revoke my "open campus" rights, for missing so many days. I told him that my grades did not suffer so why should I be punished? To this day I am not sure how I got away with this, but I certainly could relate to the students' experiences from this chapter. I think that students should have to attend school no matter what, because at the least it can keep them off the streets and potentially in a good environment.