9780995933019_

One familys story of coping after their teenage daughter drops out of school, and an examination of the public school system itself.

In the fall of 2000, while in Grade 7, Leslie Gavels daughter Avery began what would be a four-year disengagement from school. Avery didnt fit the stereotype of the dropout. Why would a privileged, middle-class adolescent choose this path when dropping out was a social stigma and would complicate her personal life and career choices?

Leslie began to analyze the school system itself, but all of her research led not to answers but to further questions. Did schoolits history, structure, practiceplay any role in underachievement? Was the problem of marginal or failing grades, chronic student dissatisfaction, and disruptive classroom behaviour always the fault of the studentand, by extension, her parentsor could it be the fault of the school system itself? And did dropping outan ultimate taboo for teenagers, along with pregnancy and drug abusereally have to mean the end of the world for child and parent?

Told from the deeply personal perspective of a concerned parent, Dropout is a memoir about one familys experience in the public school system. It also considers the latest research in alternative approaches to school, and offers suggestions for students who may not fit the educational mould or societys definition of success.

Leslie Gavel, a former social worker, is a Calgary freelance writer. Her work has appeared in Readers Digest, Canadian Living, More, Todays Parent, Avenue and several Canadian and American newspapers, and has been produced for CBC national radio. Born and raised in Regina, she has lived in Calgary for decades.

Advance praise for Dropout:
In a courageous act of often painful self-disclosure, Leslie Gavel exposes the secret, massive and most crippling bullying that haunts Western educational systems: our abandonment and degradation of students who do not fit our perception of school success. Like callous physicians who coldly dismiss patients who have illnesses they dont understand, our schools treat non-achievers as pariahs, as lepers confronting us with things wed rather not see. This bullying is even more damaging than peer abuse for struggling kids like Gavels daughter since the devastating rejection comes not from teenaged jerks, but from admired and respected adult authorities. This brave book should be required reading for anyone who claims the title of educator and will help parents to bind the wounds of these suffering children and nurture them back to life success and happiness.
Dr. Michael J. Bradley, author of Yes, Your Teen Is Crazy! Loving Your Kid Without Losing Your Mind

Dropout is not only a ruthlessly honest saga of one familys conflict over school, it is also a polemic that rails against a system that cries out for fundamental reform. Through research and storytelling, Leslie Gavel shows the reader whats wrong with school as its conducted today, which is not unlike how it was conducted one hundred years ago when the goal was to produce workers for factories whod do as they were told. Gavel warns something must change or our children will continue to be victims of an oppressive, authoritarian institution. The author wrings practical survival lessons out of the trials her daughter and family faced. Her account will be of interest to parents and teachers who sense theres something wrong, but cant quite put their finger on it. I wish Id read Dropout before my own kids faced off against our one-size-fits-all educational system.
Robert W. Fuller, Ph.D., former president of Oberlin College

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One familys story of coping after their teenage daughter drops out of school, and an examination of the public school system itself.

Advance praise for Dropout:
In a courageous act of often painful self-disclosure, Leslie Gavel exposes the secret, massive and most crippling bullying that haunts Western educational systems: our abandonment and degradation of students who do not fit our perception of school success. Like callous physicians who coldly dismiss patients who have illnesses they dont understand, our schools treat non-achievers as pariahs, as lepers confronting us with things wed rather not see. This bullying is even more damaging than peer abuse for struggling kids like Gavels daughter since the devastating rejection comes not from teenaged jerks, but from admired and respected adult authorities. This brave book should be required reading for anyone who claims the title of educator and will help parents to bind the wounds of these suffering children and nurture them back to life success and happiness."
Dr. Michael J. Bradley, author of Yes, Your Teen Is Crazy! Loving Your Kid Without Losing Your Mind

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