Low Success Rates

It pained me to read the Houston Chronicle article on Texas’ community colleges (10/20/11) by Jeannie Kever titled, “Low Success Rates an Annual Disaster.” The community college systems were never intended to serve 60% of Texas’ college students, but here we have it. Changes in the economy, the lack of manufacturing jobs, and the need for an educated workforce mean that we as a country have to adapt to better assist these young people into productive career paths. The millions of tax payer dollars that are wasted each year pretending to educate need to be put on the front end with programs that mentor, invest in and challenge the young adult to become a fully contributing citizen.

It matters that teenagers, 16-19 years old, have an unemployment rate of 25%. A recent report on NPR, “Youth Joblessness Creates Ripple Effect,” (9/3/11), discusses research that shows that students who have jobs in high school are more likely to have jobs as adults, and are more likely to graduate from college. These young people are more engaged in college and understand why they are going. The self-management skills to be successful in the workplace transfer to college and career settings down the road.

A USA Today story by Mary Beth Marklein, (10/17/11), reports that in 2008, 11% of college students had a disability of some sort. The largest category includes those with psychological or emotional problems. The next largest category involves students with ADHD. Students with language-based learning disabilities enrolled in colleges continue to rise. These students need our help and there are very few programs that effectively meet their needs.

We need these young people to become productive adults. At the Tarnow Center for Self-Management, I specialize in working with young adults who have complicated launchings. They are young people with ADHD, learning difficulties, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and a host of other factors that make their launching more difficult and more prolonged. I work with families to prepare for the extended launching period that their children will need. As a society it is dangerous to disenfranchise so many young adults who need more preparation to become contributing adults. Let’s plan for it.