I hope this does not give another black eye to Landon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Okay ladies, none of you drank alcohol after you graduated high school?? I sure did.

How would this hurt Landon. There are kids in every public and private school that drink and beach week has been going on since the 80's. Schools do not have cameras on their kids 24/7 do they? Why would Landon be at fault?

We are an alcohol obsessed society and it sadly starts at a young age. Nothing good happens when you are drunk no matter your age. Just because it is mainstream does not make it a positive influence. We are a society full of alcoholics, binge drinkers, drunk drivers, drug addicts and it all starts for many when they are teenagers. It takes a strong parent to go against the tide of mainstream culture and tell their kid that they should not be drinking.

This response is well said. If PP is defending underage drinking...that's just impossible to accept. Further, these folks who come on defneding Landon by using an argument that "everyone" does it also impossible to accept. The negative PR in today's Post in two separate stories, including an editorial is a killer.

[Anonymous]

Half the world is messed up because of alcohol and drugs and these patterns start when kids are teenagers. For the parents who think it is ok for teens to drink as long as they are not driving are just contributing to the continuation of a messed up society. I went back to visit my old home town last weekend. I heard about one guy from high school who back in the day was a good looking popular football player who just was in the cool party crowd. He is now in his forties living in his dead parents house and is so addicted to drugs and alcohol he rarely leaves the house. So sure parents keep telling yourselves it's better to be a cool parent than teaching your kids how alcohol is a slippery slope to a messed up life. There is a reason teenagers should not drink. The teenage brain makes bad impulsive decisions and a drunk teenage brain is basically useless.

[Anonymous]

As someone considering Landon for DS, this story and the schools history concerns me. The reality is that the people I know who attended Landon and those I have met during the application process, including students, have been outstanding individuals. It is hard to link the two: My experience with the school's history.

[Anonymous]

It's a small faction of Landon boys that get the notoriety...the stay back for lax kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a small faction of Landon boys that get the notoriety...the stay back for lax kids.

Our experience suggests that you are probably right.

But there are more than just a few of these boys and they influence others. And the faculty/coaches seem to encourage them.

The boys are, to many, the most visible to other schools and parents.

[Anonymous]

I have problems with my son being sent to war and instructed to kill someone but who may die before he has beer or wine. Wish we would go back to 18 and then enforce. DC was able to stay at 18 for the the drinking age for a while after the suburbs changed their laws to 21. Wish we could go back.

[Anonymous]

Why is this a Landon issue? The parents were responsible in monitoring and chaperoning as much as possible. Ganslers judgement and behavior had been criticized by the post and this sure but he is not a Landon grad.

[Anonymous]

PP, What don't you understand about this situation. Landon has a bad reputation and this latest story does not help. Consider the fact that no other school in the area has had all of the following happen to its students or recent alumni:

Beach Week part hosted by parents of Landon students - Underage drinking was prevalent
Former student kills girlfriend out of rage
Former students charged in alleged rape at prestige southern university -- During investigation it is revealed that several of same students (Landon graduates) have criminal records that include abuse
Current students cheat on SAT
MS students involved in fantasy sex scandal.

All of the above have taken place since since 2002.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is this a Landon issue? The parents were responsible in monitoring and chaperoning as much as possible. Ganslers judgement and behavior had been criticized by the post and this sure but he is not a Landon grad.

New poster. I suppose it's a Landon issue because the boys in the picture and the article are Landon students/grads; it was a Landon beach week party. If there were salacious pictures of beach week from any area private school, I'm sure that would be low-level news too. (Can you imagine how much fun the Tea Party press would have with similar pictures from a Sidwell beach week?) Indeed, here's an article (no pics) from about a year ago, with police warning local students and parents about beach week problems - http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-03-21/local/35448143_1_ocean-city-police-town-officials-beach-week .

IMO, all the adults involved showed poor judgment, because it's foolish for any adult to permit illegal drinking at a party where that adult is responsible. Gansler showed particularly poor judgment because he's also running for office and should know to keep his image squeaky clean.

[Anonymous]

At the time of the episode, there were 5 Landon kids on the team, 3 prep kids and 1 Bullis kid. I think for the most part, all of the kids are doing OK won a huge settlement with Duke

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And regarding whether or not Landon has any Seniors who are 19, that is a joke. Many of those boys repeated a year along the way, so many of those kids turn 19 during the course of the school year (or before).

Half the graduating class will be 19 by June this year. Not unusual in private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone considering Landon for DS, this story and the schools history concerns me. The reality is that the people I know who attended Landon and those I have met during the application process, including students, have been outstanding individuals. It is hard to link the two: My experience with the school's history.

Don't let this discourage you from considering Landon. The teachers and staff at Landon are top notch and care deeply for their students. Ninety nine percent of the students are great kids with caring families. It baffles me why Landon gets so much bad press when there are plenty of negative things going on at other schools. I feel sad that this community can not catch a break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a MD resident so I haven't paid too much attention to the race for AG so I don't have an opinion of Gansler, but that photo in the link is so obviously a TERRIBLE photoshop attempt. Does the Baltimore Sun really think this is responsible journalism?!

As for Landon boys having a party after graduation, during beach week...really - you guys have nothing better to do than to try and put this out as only as Landon thing? Before you accuse me of protecting Landon - trust me, I'm no fan of the school (or single sex environments in general), but to suggest that Landon kids are the only ones celebrating their graduation during beach is more than short-sighted!

It was not photoshopped. If it was, Gansler would have said so.

The funny thing is that he said, when asked by a Post reporter, that he was NOT taking a photo. Instead, he was reading a text. Yeah, when I read a text on my phone, I hold it far away from me. LOL. Just admit you were taking a photo of your son and/or other kids.

I actually do hold my phone away from my face to read texts/emails if I'm not wearing my reading glasses . . .

Me too! My arms are not long enough!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And regarding whether or not Landon has any Seniors who are 19, that is a joke. Many of those boys repeated a year along the way, so many of those kids turn 19 during the course of the school year (or before).

Half the graduating class will be 19 by June this year. Not unusual in private school.

I wonder if this statistic is accurate that half the boys at Landon have been red shirted before graduation? If so, when does this take place? Does it take place before 3rd, 7th, 9th grades or at other times? If there is an unusually high number of red shirts in an all boys school does that account for higher incidents of boorish behaviors caused by older bigger physically stronger boys in inappropriately lower younger grades in school??

Why is it always Landon that makes it into the news for antisocial behaviors? What happens there which seems to manifest itself as something similar to roid-rage? If 50% of their students have been red-shirted and the school is best known for athletics is it prudent to send ones' son to school there if the majority of his classmates will be a full year older. A years difference in age/ maturity is nothing to adults but for children it's huge. It impacts size, strength, confidence, endurance, reasoning, and puberty.

No one has ever been able to figure out exactly what's wrong with Landon. Just maybe it could be that they have seventh graders in 6th grade, ninth graders in 8th grade and college freshman in 12th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And regarding whether or not Landon has any Seniors who are 19, that is a joke. Many of those boys repeated a year along the way, so many of those kids turn 19 during the course of the school year (or before).

Half the graduating class will be 19 by June this year. Not unusual in private school.

Unusual for my kids' private school. In my two kids' two grades, there are only a total of four "summer birthday" holdbacks. And only two of them will turn 19 by the June following graduation. Either Landon does things far differently, or maybe you're speculating without any inside knowledge.