Definitions of Desertion

Desertion

Desertion is a term linked to the verb to desert: abandon, leave, move away.

At the educational level, the term is used to talk about those students who abandon their studies for different reasons; studies being understood as all education that is within the educational system imposed by the government that governs that State (primary, secondary, university, etc.). Those people who stop studying become school dropouts.

School desertion refers to the abandonment of compulsory formal studies.

School dropout

Depending on the approach with which you want to analyze school dropout, one reason or another may be known. From psychology it is considered that it is mainly due to the intelligence of the person and what motivates him; Sociology pays attention to social factors, to the pressures that the individual receives from his environment, according to the qualifications that he has achieved. And from pedagogy, emphasis is placed on how education is organized, the evaluation system and the integration of students.

School dropout is one of the most worrying educational problems, since it is undoubtedly one of the most important causes of the lack of development in many societies.

It is a social phenomenon that is increasingly present in modern communities and although responsibility is attributed to political, economic and family issues; It should be clarified that in many cases, it is due to the great decline of the current educational system.

It is important to point out that the origin of school dropouts is found in the very recent past, from the implementation of compulsory and generalized education, and it worsened with the massive idea of ​​democratizing education.

Reasons that lead to drop out of school

As revealed by the studies carried out, the reasons why young people drop out of school can be many, from socioeconomic and family problems to ideological reasons, such as not sharing the ideas of a systematic education, many of those who expressed this reason explained that They did not drop out of study, but of systematic education, continuing their studies in a self- taught way or resorting to different methods such as private education.

One of the factors that most influences school dropout is the lack of support and affection that young people receive in their family environment. According to studies, more than 50% of students who drop out of school are in a very delicate emotional situation with respect to their relatives. If it is taken into account that the family is the first school, no matter how much effort is made in the second to ensure that the child learns, is formed looking forward to the future and strives to achieve his achievements, it will be in vain; because everything that the person receives in her house will be what pushes her to become one or another person. School desertion is manifested as a consequence of the feeling of abandonment and lack of protection.

Other causes of school dropout can be: lack of interest in the child, poor quality education, poor preparation of teachers, high number of students per classroom and little dedication to each student, among others.

In addition, the implementation of qualifications to decide which student has a better education than another, is totally contradictory to the fundamentals of education (teaching and learning). Through it, an administrative order can be achieved, however, it can cause frustration, self-destructive feelings, arrogance, conflicts among those students who are doing well, instead of encouraging them to try harder or seek to consolidate their knowledge.

From educational systematization to desertion

One of the reasons why the systematization of education was sought was social equality, believing that in this way, individuals from all sectors of the same society would have access to the same opportunities; however, this way of approaching education not only did not bring equality, but also brought consequences such as desertion. Education was given a responsibility that was no longer to educate, but to equalize all people; something totally detrimental, because in the same class lovers of the arts and staunch mathematicians meet and there is no way to put together the program without lowering the level of one of them to bring him closer to the opposite pole (to concepts and issues that really do not interest him). and that will be forgotten by the end of school).

It should be noted that according to pedagogical reductivism, the school must manifest and support the way in which the social structure is composed for this reason, it could never contribute to shortening the existing distances between rich and poor, because the school cannot go against the system, it is one of the elements that make up the ideological apparatus of the State.

On the other hand, one of the fundamental functions of the school is to collaborate with learning that is related to the social and affective part of the individual; however, the way in which learning is implemented can contradict this objective, since students who do not exceed expected expectations repeat and are removed from their peer group, which can cause important emotional conflicts, especially because in the new course he will receive the title of “repeat” which will make a greater difference with his new classmates.

In the military, desertion is a crime.

Dereliction of military duty

Another of the most frequent uses of the term is found in the military field, where desertion is the abandonment of duty. This means that a deserter can be a corporal, a colonel or any other member of the armed force. The exception occurs with the recruits: when they abandon their tasks, they are not considered as deserters, but rather are classified as fugitives (people who escape from a measure of authority or a decision of Justice).

According to military law, the deserter commits a crime that, in some countries and depending on the context, can be punished by firing squad.

One form of desertion is conscientious objection. In this case, the person refuses to comply with the military service that is mandatory by law, alleging religious or ethical reasons. Those who defend this defection maintain that it is a right protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in its article 18.

Other uses of the notion of desertion

To finish and return to the definition of the term, we will say that desertion consists of failing to fulfill an obligation or moving away from certain ideals or causes.

Some examples of sentences where the term appears: «I want to remind you, Lieutenant McNein, that desertion is punishable by capital punishment», «The desertion of two hundred soldiers affected the fire capacity of the country», «If this continues, the desertion it will be an option chosen by many», «It is evident that Comrade Koprivski has opted for desertion in the revolutionary struggle», «It is not a desertion: I just think that the movement is not heading towards the goal that we had set for ourselves three years ago ».

Desertion