Alternative high schools which enroll at risk youths have a major impact on the education that troubled kids get. When a student creates numerous distractions, behaves violently or is found to have engaged in illegal activities outside of school, usually he or she is sent to an alternative school. Legally, children aged 16 years and older can be signed out of school by their parents. Although there are penalties for parents that do not force their children to attend school, rarely are the rules enforced.
In the case of Hilltop Junior-Senior High School in Umatilla County, Oregon, at risk high school students will probably not be able to graduate. Without a proper education, children that have had issues at home and school are more than three times as likely to commit crimes and be imprisoned as adults. In Hermiston, Oregon, life is simple, most adults go to work and the unemployment is on the low end when compared to national averages. The good news is that these alternative high school students will have the opportunity to resume learning in the fall, however, they may not be able to get the same level of individualized attention and care.
In a town where most residents are on a first name basis, these students have already been marked with the proverbial scarlet letter. It will be more difficult for them to get jobs in Hermiston as they have been associated with negative activities, and if they aren’t able to graduate and go on to college, their futures will be all but sealed.
