The "they don't want" comments ignore that these young men come from families/communities and didn't just drop out of the sky at 17.
When do y'all start talking about "We", or just going to dodge the internal factors?
I've mentored and tutored a lot of kids in poor situations and the biggest issue I have had is the parents, communities, peers, having low standards of what is ok. A lot of "it's ok, you can get your GED" or working at "Burger King like my cousin". Also, one of the students that turned himself around was unique in that his dad actually cared to come to all the teacher conferences, events, meeting, at his school etc. Since a lot of people don't attend those the administration may give you extra help.
Granted there are huge barriers too such as poor schools, teachers being quick to label kids as some kind of special need (my sister-in-law and even one of my sons had to fight this), bigoted guidance counselors (my counselor in HS told my mom I was signed up for too many AP classes and would be stressed; I wasn't in any more than the Asian/Indian kids), financial barriers, and poor career advice. Let's not even start with the lack of test prep our kids get compared to majority schools. Many Whites/Asians take the SAT like 4-5 times before their final score and their schools tell them to do it.
Even those that get to college are often poorly prepared by where they came from. So a lot of shyt has to be handled unfortunately.
