Patrick's parents are both high school dropouts. his mother has been unemployed for the last two years, and his father has been working on and off for the last two years. patrick’s school grades have been steadily dropping in the last two years. his teachers say that he doesn’t seem to have any friends and he has been very aloof. recently he came back from school crying and with bruises.

patrick appears to be at school due to his status.

Patrick seems to be facing problems at school due to his economic status.

Explanation:

According to the text, we can see that the economic situation and Patrick and his family is a bad situation. They are short of money and have faced economic problems that have diminished their quality of life. Because of these problems, Patrick has been concerned about his family and faced problems at school as a consequence of this concern. His academic performance is poor, his grades are dropping more and more and he has come home sad and bruised, which indicates that he has been faced by other students.

In short, we can say that Patrick seems to be having problems at school because of his economic status.