Bus visit tells students of school drop out effect

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A bus outfitted with a video and prison cell mock up is stopping at a Columbia middle school with a stark warning to students of the devastating effects caused by dropping out of school.

Friday’s visit to Dent Middle School in Columbia is sponsored by the Mattie C. Stewart Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the dropout rate.

The video contains comments from prison inmates who tell of the lasting impact dropping out of school can have. Following that, a full-scale replica of a prison cell is shown to the students.

Phil Christian of the Stewart Foundation says 75 percent of people in state prisons are school dropouts. He says the bus offers students a reminder what an education can do for them.