Your parents can legally stop you from dropping out of school at age 16.
Because you're under the age of 18, you are considered to be a legal minor and minors don't have the legal right to make their own major educational decisions.
Even if your state allows a student to leave school at age 16, it also often requires that you have a parent or guardian's signed permission and official withdrawal forms.
But if your parents refuse to sign, then you cannot drop out of school legally and must continue attending school until you're 18 years of age.
State laws also require that children attend school up to a certain age, which is often 16, 17, or 18.
Even in states that have compulsory school attendance that ends at age 16, the law still gives your parents and not you as a student the authority to decide whether to withdraw a minor from school.
Schools will also treat any unexcused absences as truancy.
Although there are exceptions like if you're emancipated.
If you as a minor are emancipated by a court, then you gain the independent right to make your own life and educational choices.
Emancipation requires that you prove financial independence and adult responsibility through a formal legal process.
Basically, some states allow students to leave school at age 16 with parents permission, while other states require you to stay and attend school until you're 18.