William Butler Yeats
Over a quarter of all children in Canadian high schools will dropout before graduation. In impoverished areas of Winnipeg however, this number can be as high as 70% for a number of schools. In many instances, the reasons for this are lackluster performance in academics, poverty and lack of motivation among the youth. Many cannot keep up with others in class, breeding a sense of failure that permeates other aspects of their lives. Once these kids drop out, a substantial number will go on to engage in crime and become a burden on society.
More and more communities are seeing the need for offering extra support to keep kids in school and this is where Aarons Advocates comes in. We understand the handicaps that come with limited financial resources and inadequate parental support. We help kids, parents and teachers find a solution that will not only provide a safe place for kids to be after normal school hours, but make constructive use of that time to boost their academic and extracurricular potential.
Majority of impoverished areas are populated by low income single parent, immigrant and aboriginal families. Even where both parents are present, they are often working long hours that make it difficult to monitor what their kids get up to after school. A number never even know their child dropped out until it is too late. This is what has led to more than half of the kids in these areas dropping out of school early, whereas roughly a tenth will do the same from more affluent regions.
When children get help that allows them to keep up, and be competitive inside and outside the classroom, they begin to better enjoy the learning experience and lay the groundwork for a productive future. With better education, these kids will go on to build careers and join professions that will guarantee a secure financial future for themselves and their families. As a consequence, the country will have a better income earning population that will provide higher tax revenues. This can then be channeled towards development. It has also been proven that social welfare costs, healthcare costs and crime rates fall with such progress. The far reaching future benefits of helping our youth now will definitelyfar outweigh the small cost today.