> The author's whole premise is that dropping out is universally bad and should be discouraged, and that staying in school is universally good.
No, the entire premise is in the title: Don't encourage kids to drop out. If they want to do it, they'll do it, and good on them for it. The last paragraph even argues against "extreme points of view" which would suggest that interpreting the article as "they say drop out, don't do it" is totally wrong.
> Where might we be if some of the 'usual celebrity dropouts' hadn't dropped out?
Worthless speculation. We'd be somewhere different, yes, but no less interesting and no worse off.
No, the entire premise is in the title: Don't encourage kids to drop out. If they want to do it, they'll do it, and good on them for it. The last paragraph even argues against "extreme points of view" which would suggest that interpreting the article as "they say drop out, don't do it" is totally wrong.
> Where might we be if some of the 'usual celebrity dropouts' hadn't dropped out?
Worthless speculation. We'd be somewhere different, yes, but no less interesting and no worse off.