Graduation Today

           As we all know, one of the major problems of today’s society is our ever ominous dropout rate. Over the years we have seen an increase in our national dropout rate in high school students, causing a nationwide concern for our younger generations. Each state has started to devise and implement a plan to combat the dropout rate of our teens with the help of school initiated programs such as afterschool tutoring or even national programs, such as the No Child Left Behind Act. With programs like these, students are able to get a handle on what problems they face in class by receiving help and the school can provide the necessary improvements to increase the overall student success rate. While these programs may not help all states improve their graduate rate, the graduation rate is increasing in others. This political cartoon, found in a 2010 madashelland.com blog, shows the dropout rate of California using symbols to explain the concerns we face with our younger generations.

            California’s graduation rate has increased in recent years from below 70 percent to nearly 80 percent; almost reaching the national average graduation rate of 74.5 percent, calculated in 2010 (Richmond). The cartoon depicts a scene of students who are receiving their diplomas for graduation, with three out of seven of these students outlined with the words “DROP OUT RATE” stamped to the sides of these individuals. This suggests that the dropout rate of California has now decreased to 40 percent, according to when the cartoon was created, which is low compared to the past several years.

            The few symbols found in this piece show what the artist was trying to depict. The cap and gown provide the information of a graduation setting of high school students, which is also explained in the banner across the background of the cartoon that is cut off but still reads “High School Graduation.” Another symbol found in this cartoon is the hand giving the rolled up paper to the students, symbolizing a diploma. This also suggests that the students lined up are going to receive their diplomas for graduation.

           

           The strong use of symbol provides the information needed to make an educated guess on what this cartoon depicts. Even though it is not clearly stated that the dropout rate shown in this cartoon is of California, with some research you can find this picture in several articles online describing the decreasing dropout rate of California’s students. Although states such as California have created a change in their graduation rate, we know that the nation is still working towards decreasing the dropout rate. By studying this cartoon and the information provided in the article found on the madashelland.com blog, we can see that our dropout rate is still an issue within our society today.

Works Cited

Richmond, Emily. High School Graduation Rate Hits 40-Year Peak in the U.S. 6 Jun 2013. Web. 25 Sept 2013. <http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/06/high-school-graduation-rate-hits-40-year-peak-in-the-us/276604/>.