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Cognitive growth and a new found sense of freedom and independence makes it both easier and more difficult for teens when making choices and coping with upcoming transitions and life decisions.
As adolescents grow older, they encounter age-related transition points that require them to progress into a new role, such as going to college, taking a year off or Gap Year, or starting to work towards a career. Educational expectations vary not only by culture but also by class or socioeconomic status. While middle- or upper-class families may expect their child to attend a four-year university after graduating from high school, other families may expect their child to immediately begin working full-time, as many within their families have done before.[1]
Academic Achievement
Adolescents spend more waking time in school than in any other context (Eccles & Roeser, 2011). Academic achievement during adolescence is predicted by interpersonal (e.g., parental engagement in adolescents’ education), intrapersonal (e.g., intrinsic motivation), and institutional (e.g., school quality) factors. Academic achievement is important in its own right as a marker of positive adjustment during adolescence but also because academic achievement sets the stage for future educational and occupational opportunities. The most serious consequence of school failure, particularly dropping out of school, is the high risk of unemployment or underemployment in adulthood that follows. High achievement can set the stage for college or future vocational training and opportunities.[2]
High School Dropouts
The status dropout rate refers to the percentage of 16 to 24 civilian non-institutionalized year-olds (i.e., excluding those in prison or the military) who are not enrolled in school and do not have high school credentials (either a diploma or an equivalency credential such as a General Educational Development [GED] certificate).[3] The dropout rate among high school students has declined from a rate of 9.7% in 2006, to 5.4% in 2017.[4]
Differences in How Societies Socialize Young Adults
Age transition points require socialization into new roles that can vary widely between societies. For example, in the United Kingdom, when teens finish their secondary schooling (aka high school in the United States), they often take a gap year, or year “off” before entering college.
Frequently, they might take a job, travel, or find other ways to experience another culture. Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, spent his gap year practicing survival skills in Belize, teaching English in Chile, and working on a dairy farm in the United Kingdom (Prince of Wales 2012a). His brother, Prince Harry, advocated for AIDS orphans in Africa and worked as a jackeroo (a novice ranch hand) in Australia (Prince of Wales 2012b).
In the United States, this life transition point is socialized quite differently, and taking a year off is generally frowned upon. Instead, U.S. youth are encouraged to pick career path