Show me the money: Motivating high-aggressive youth to graduate

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore differences between high-aggressive (HAS) and low-aggressive students (LAS) planning to graduate about their motivations and challenges to stay in school.

Methods: Sixteen focus groups, organized by gender and aggression level, were conducted with eleventh graders (total n=81; 52% girls, 51% Caucasian, 48% African-American) attending one of eight high schools from six school districts in Northeast Georgia. All participants had completed yearly evaluations, as members of the Healthy Teens longitudinal study, which were used to identify persistent HAS and LAS.

Results: Five themes differentiated the perceptions of HAS and LAS. HAS emphasized the salience of school barriers (punitive school policies, lack of preparation for ninth grade); stress due to external factors (peer social pressures, balancing work and study to alleviate financial problems); preference for concrete sources of motivation (places to work and play, expectations of earning more money); strong influence of coaches; and lack of clearly defined parental expectations. HAS countered the additional strains of financial need and limited parental involvement by reaching out more strongly to people outside family (teachers and coaches) and in the community (churches and the Boys and Girls Clubs) for specific, instrumental help. The need to seek extra-familiar support made HAS also more susceptible to the pressures of peer groups.

Conclusions: While students in both groups were goal-oriented in their desire to graduate, dropout prevention interventions should integrate more targeted assistance, particularly to low SES students, into school policies and increase the role of coaches.