Letter: Licensed dropouts

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Being a high school dropout myself, I would be against the Minnesota law banning high school dropouts from getting driver’s licenses.

I never actually dropped out of high school but I never graduated or got a GED.

I wonder how I would have managed without being able to drive.

I wouldn’t have been able to get my first college job; I wouldn’t have been able to run my own piano tuning business. I would have had a hard time supporting myself through college and dating would have been much more difficult.

Luckily, there was no such law when I got out of high school and I was free to be a productive member of society. I now have degrees in physics and chemistry and I’m working on a master’s. I’m happily married and I still have a clean driving record.

I don’t think high school students need any more punishment for dropping out. They’re already punishing themselves enough.

Forcing them to stay in school might get them a diploma, but it also lowers the value of that diploma.

The students forced to stay in school would at best learn a little more, and at worst ruin the learning experience for their classmates.

Those who drop out anyway would be doubly disadvantaged. Fewer would enter the work force and I suspect more would end up in prison.

Anthony Willey
Pleasant Grove

 

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