Postponing compulsory schooling until the age of 18 is a valid ‘weapon’ to combat the deviances of young people. The pediatrician Italo Farnetani is convinced of this and, commenting to Adnkronos Salute on the measures against school dropout, contained in the so-called Caivano Decree, approved in the last Council of Ministers, explains: “today 75% of children graduate from high school maturity, while 25% stop studying at 16, as soon as they finish compulsory education. We know that those who stop going to school have personal or family problems, unlike those who grew up in a context that motivated them to study. And it is precisely that 25% who are most in need of staying in school until they are 18, because if they interrupt lessons they end up bored, lose contact with their peers, busy with school commitments, and bond with kids who are more at psychosocial risk”.
“It doesn’t matter if in those two years the children learn little or are inattentive but in the meantime they are in an environment with a group of motivated children, who study and who can certainly do them good”, adds Farnetani, underlining how “school dropout is the responsibility of the State Today, in fact – he claims – up to the age of 16 the boy is ‘obligated to study’, therefore the State must verify that he is protected in this obligation”. And again, the pediatrician, full professor at the Ludes University-United Campus of Malta, underlines “the important role of teachers, who must be very careful to understand situations of hardship, social risk, psychological problems of pupils because – he says – deviances can be prevented if the signs are identified early.”
“Finally, it is important to create points of aggregation and social meeting among young people, all the more important because after the pandemic the possibility of meeting in person has been reduced and social media has taken on more and more space. It is then important – he concludes – to also increase sport experienced not only as competition but as a moment of shared common life”.
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