In the coming years, our state leaders will face a daunting list of problems. Two of the most important will be the high crime rate and the large number of people requiring mental health services. Both of these problems have a connection to another problem, which is the school dropout rate.

How do we begin to have some effect on the number of youths who are dropping out of school? Should we continue to build more prisons and mental hospitals, or should we take a more preventative approach? The answer is clear that prevention is the better choice.

We can begin to address the high dropout rate by changing our middle school and high school curriculums. If students are to remain in schools, they must have programs that meet their interests. There are many students who do not want or need to continue on to college. Those students should be able to pursue vocational and technical education. Maybe we could have a magnet middle school and high school where students could get an education specifically in these areas.

Another way to lower the dropout rate is to improve parenting skills. Of course, we have many parents who already have good parenting skills. However, there are many parents who need training in how to raise their children. We should make concentrated efforts to increase the number of parent education classes available to parents who need them. School districts and county health services should make this a priority.

By decreasing the school dropout rate, we will lower the crime rate and some of the need for mental health services. In regard to these problems, the saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" has never been more true.

Marvin Woll

Raleigh