It could be children from lower income or higher welfare areas. When my daughter was in either 7th or 8th grade there was a kid who should have been a Jr or Sr at her middle school. Our public school system isn’t interested in teaching the students that are slow learners or don’t have ambition. So they keep passing them along until they either quit school or graduate with out a proper education. So many parents either don’t care or might be working three jobs. Many grandparents are raising their grandkids. I’m in rural eastern NC. My daughter is 30 & it’s probably worse now. She was in honors classes so she wasn’t around these situations.