In the war against the dropout epidemic, the media is a force multiplier

  As a U.S. military veteran and a former war correspondent for The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah State University journalism and communications professor Matthew D. LaPlante says he doesn’t use war metaphors lightly. 

  “War, of course, is a matter of life and death,” LaPlante said during a Monday afternoon presentation at the National Dropout Prevention Network’s annual conference, outside of Chicago. “So if we are going to be so bold as to compare this epidemic to war, we need to establish that this epidemic is a matter of life and death.”

  And indeed it is, he said. 

  By way of evidence, LaPlante offered a study of San Francisco crime data showing that 94 percent of murder victims under the age of 25 were high school dropouts.

  “These young, dead people were not alike in any way more than they were alike in this way: They had not finished high school,” he said.

  Given the stakes, LaPlante argued, school leaders should be exploiting every available weapon to fight the epidemic, including the use of the mass media and social media to engage in “propaganda.”

  “That just seems like a dirty word, doesn’t it? But what propaganda is — all it is — is information intended to promote a particular cause,” said LaPlante, the editor of NoDropouts.org. “And if your cause is to prevent and recover dropouts, then your cause is just... And if your cause is just then you should be sharing it. You should be preaching it. You should be standing on the top of your school buildings screaming at the top of your lungs to get noticed.”

  The media — which broadly includes every publishing forum from traditional newspapers to Twitter — can help those engaged in the fight to end the dropout epidemic raise money and build community support. It can also be used to establish positive public pressure on students who could benefit from that form of motivation. 

  Unfortunately, LaPlante said, school leaders are often very nervous about engaging the media, particularly when it comes to the subject of dropouts — a subject that many would prefer to keep quiet.  

  But, he said, that caution plays into the very stereotypes that are perpetuating the crisis. 

  The public, he said, needs a new paradigm: One in which the dropout epidemic isn’t seen as the result of failing schools or poor students. 

  “Study after study shows that most students who drop out do so for reasons other than poor grades — and that if they have poor grades, it is often symptomatic of something else in their lives,” LaPlante said. “They are parents. They are sick. They are fleeing gang violence. They are gay, lesbian or bisexual and they are fleeing harassment. They are homeless. They are the product of abusive or neglectful homes.”

  Contrary to the general public perception, dropouts “are not lazy. They are not bad. They are not lost causes,” he said.

  And fighting that image is the duty of everyone.

  “So even if you don’t think you need to be using the media to support your district’s individual dropout prevention and recovery goals... you need to be contributing to a change in the cultural understanding of what a dropout really is,” he said. 

  He suggested flooding the media with good news. 

  “And, quite frankly, I would say you should flood the media with bad news, too,” LaPlante said.

  For instance: A sinking graduation rate.

  “Tell people,” he said. “Twitter it. Facebook it. Ask for suggestions and community input. Ask for commitment from the community. Make it clear that your problem is their problem too — and tell them why.”

  For more information contact editor@nodropouts.org