How is the campaign being promoted? Are there any big partners you are working with to help create awareness about 26 Seconds? And, frankly, our society sends a lot of conflicting messages about values and the importance of schools. Parents who don’t speak English have a hard time getting involved in their kids’ education. But there’s a multitude of problems involving the economy and our overall society-kids with grown-up responsibilities, frequent moves, homelessness. They don’t understand how a high school dropout is eight times more likely to be incarcerated than a high school grad, and three times more likely to be unemployed than a college grad.
Kids most at risk of dropping out don’t have a lock on how important education is to their future.
What do you view as the biggest challenge in encouraging kids to stay in school? The program’s tagline, “BMOR,” underscores this call to action. It will provide an online venue for youth to express feelings on the issue and creatively share thoughts and talents-encouraging them and their peers to make graduation a priority so they become more than a statistic. The campaign, titled “26 Seconds,” will use interests, like music, sports and video, to engage those who can most directly affect change – young people themselves. Tell us about the campaign.Įd Rust: Every 26 seconds in America, a student drops out of high school. Brandon Gutman: You launched 26 Seconds on March 21.