Where do BCC kids hang out after school? (And how does Whitman compare?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does Jackson Reed have busses? I ask because it’s very likely the kids go hang at those places prior to getting on the metro or public bus. Most BCC kids take the bus home so aren’t hanging out that much.

That said, when my DD does hang out after school, she goes to Starbucks on Wisconsin or Bethesda Row Area.

My kid graduated from BCC last year and there wasn’t a lot of hanging out after school because of the bus thing. I actually felt bad about it because it was so different from my experience in DC - I loved afternoons like that when my friends and I would do whatever and just take the Metrobus home when we were done. Like PP my kid and friends were at Starbucks, Barnes & Noble before it closed, the couple of thrift shops in Bethesda, etc.

Big reason we chose a home within walking distance of our high school. But many of DC's friends do take the school bus so there isn't a lot of just hanging out after school though DC does walk home with one friend. It's still very handy for sports practices, weekend hangouts, etc.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. Not racist. The diversity of BCC I noted as a plus, and the lack of it a potential minus for Whitman. But the poster who thought I mischaracterized Tenley after school is dead wrong: as my middle schooler puts it, the kids smoke in their sheisties with the police right nearby who do nothing. I also have observed it enough myself, along with shoplifting from the CVS after school.

Rich white people smoke a lot of pot too. But to me a bunch of kids (whatever their race) walking around in sheisties is not what I want since it shows a glorification of a set of values I think is unhealthy.

[Anonymous]

(And I don't want the rich white kids smoking pot either -- but know that happens at all those schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks so far. At JR, a lot of kids take metro or public buses, or walk home -- so there is a lot of traffic for a while after school with kids hanging out before they get on public transport or walk.

I'm not asking about the most responsible kids at BCC or Whitman though. I'm curious as to the middle or least responsible, and what that looks like.

BCC has plenty of drinking and smoking pot. Other situations I have had direct knowledge of as a BCC parent over the years - student on student rape, student unplanned pregnancy, sexual abuse of a student by a person in authority, a break in/petty theft, and student runaway, student on teacher assault, student on student assault, and student on student sexual harassment. Many of these happened to/between bright college-oriented teens (not “middle or least responsible” - whomever that refers to)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the one hand, well, okay, good to do school research.

On the other hand, it seems sort of creepy to hang outside a school and cast judgment on the kids this way. A boy trying to look tough "hood style"? What does this mean? It's so racist and coded I think you must be joking. Or super clueless!

+1000. OP knows absolutely nothing about any of these kids and it making judgements based on ignorance. New flash, overachieving kids smoke weed and do drugs just as much as sometimes more than middle of the road kids. Either ask for feedback of the school and school body and then take a tour or just choose a school. Making instance judgements is a bad look.

Trust me, the overachieving kids at our MCPS HS are not doing weed or drugs. They either have no time to or are too scared to do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks. Not racist. The diversity of BCC I noted as a plus, and the lack of it a potential minus for Whitman. But the poster who thought I mischaracterized Tenley after school is dead wrong: as my middle schooler puts it, the kids smoke in their sheisties with the police right nearby who do nothing. I also have observed it enough myself, along with shoplifting from the CVS after school.

Rich white people smoke a lot of pot too. But to me a bunch of kids (whatever their race) walking around in sheisties is not what I want since it shows a glorification of a set of values I think is unhealthy.

“Not racist”. Sure. You’re purportedly asking about the kids at BCC and Whitman, And, for some reason, decided to include your very personal views on kids from J-R, doubling down on your assumptions which couldn’t possibly be mischaracterizing kids you don’t know as shoplifters. How gratuitously racist can you be? I have no idea what “sheisties” are, but quoting your “middle schooler” to bolster your assumptions and your racism in no way relates to your supposed original question. Racists are going to racist. That wasn’t even a smooth tangent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the one hand, well, okay, good to do school research.

On the other hand, it seems sort of creepy to hang outside a school and cast judgment on the kids this way. A boy trying to look tough "hood style"? What does this mean? It's so racist and coded I think you must be joking. Or super clueless!

+1000. OP knows absolutely nothing about any of these kids and it making judgements based on ignorance. New flash, overachieving kids smoke weed and do drugs just as much as sometimes more than middle of the road kids. Either ask for feedback of the school and school body and then take a tour or just choose a school. Making instance judgements is a bad look.

Trust me, the overachieving kids at our MCPS HS are not doing weed or drugs. They either have no time to or are too scared to do that.

Because you spend 24/7 with all the kids you place in the overachieving category???

[Anonymous]

The OP's post and subsequent thread are really problematic in many ways already pointed out.

The hour after school is just a tiny variable in characterizing a school's students, and even then, you can't really characterize a school's students as a whole. The hour after school is a matter of logistics and location. Whitman is surrounded by houses. The kids DO hang out, but you can't see it so directly - it would be more obvious at BCC and then even more obvious at J-R simply due to their location. Whitman kids take the bus to Bethesda, for instance. They then likely blend into BCC. They're also more likely to hang out at friends' houses, which is not always a good thing. I suspect with more parents, especially in that district, working from home, the dangers of teens being at home alone for long periods after school has lessened somewhat.

As for alcohol and drug use, do not fool yourselves. It is happening at all 3, but certainly not by all kids. At Whitman, it is clearly a problem at weekend parties, and the principal even acknowledged such in a recent letter to parents. I have kids at Whitman, and I worry. We talk a lot. It is not true that "overachieving" kids don't partake. I know some who do - and we're talking about achievers in academics and athletics. ECs are not the silver bullet for preventing substances abuse they used to be.

On a final note, to the PP who said that you won't see the "responsible" kids due to them being involved in ECs, etc. The use of the word "responsible" is problematic there, because for outside ECs at least, it's really a matter of affluence and parental involvement (ability to pay for and drive their kids to ECs). So be careful. A kid who leaves J-R at 2.30, gets some Chik-Fil-A and then picks his younger sibling up at middle school or elementary school isn't necessarily irresponsible.

I was a lot more judgmental of teens and parents of teens before I was a parent of teens myself. Do be careful and know that you cannot completely shape/control the environment. Rather, you need to learn about it (which OP appears to want to do, albeit in a somewhat creepy way) and then help your teens manage it.

[Anonymous]

OP I think you’ll be so much happier in Loudoun County.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The OP's post and subsequent thread are really problematic in many ways already pointed out.

The hour after school is just a tiny variable in characterizing a school's students, and even then, you can't really characterize a school's students as a whole. The hour after school is a matter of logistics and location. Whitman is surrounded by houses. The kids DO hang out, but you can't see it so directly - it would be more obvious at BCC and then even more obvious at J-R simply due to their location. Whitman kids take the bus to Bethesda, for instance. They then likely blend into BCC. They're also more likely to hang out at friends' houses, which is not always a good thing. I suspect with more parents, especially in that district, working from home, the dangers of teens being at home alone for long periods after school has lessened somewhat.

As for alcohol and drug use, do not fool yourselves. It is happening at all 3, but certainly not by all kids. At Whitman, it is clearly a problem at weekend parties, and the principal even acknowledged such in a recent letter to parents. I have kids at Whitman, and I worry. We talk a lot. It is not true that "overachieving" kids don't partake. I know some who do - and we're talking about achievers in academics and athletics. ECs are not the silver bullet for preventing substances abuse they used to be.

On a final note, to the PP who said that you won't see the "responsible" kids due to them being involved in ECs, etc. The use of the word "responsible" is problematic there, because for outside ECs at least, it's really a matter of affluence and parental involvement (ability to pay for and drive their kids to ECs). So be careful. A kid who leaves J-R at 2.30, gets some Chik-Fil-A and then picks his younger sibling up at middle school or elementary school isn't necessarily irresponsible.

I was a lot more judgmental of teens and parents of teens before I was a parent of teens myself. Do be careful and know that you cannot completely shape/control the environment. Rather, you need to learn about it (which OP appears to want to do, albeit in a somewhat creepy way) and then help your teens manage it.

I don’t think anyone is judging a kid who makes a quick Chik Fil A run. It’s more the groups of kids smoking in ski masks, hassling other kids. I haven’t personally checked out JR after school, but I did visit our IB MS and HS at dismissal to check out the scene. And yes, the kids hassling other kids, smoking weed, and the crew beefs requiring a Safe Passage guard at dismissal … all make an impression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the one hand, well, okay, good to do school research.

On the other hand, it seems sort of creepy to hang outside a school and cast judgment on the kids this way. A boy trying to look tough "hood style"? What does this mean? It's so racist and coded I think you must be joking. Or super clueless!

+1000. OP knows absolutely nothing about any of these kids and it making judgements based on ignorance. New flash, overachieving kids smoke weed and do drugs just as much as sometimes more than middle of the road kids. Either ask for feedback of the school and school body and then take a tour or just choose a school. Making instance judgements is a bad look.

Trust me, the overachieving kids at our MCPS HS are not doing weed or drugs. They either have no time to or are too scared to do that.

Nah. They're just smart enough to not get caught. Prepping for a life of white collar crime!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the one hand, well, okay, good to do school research.

On the other hand, it seems sort of creepy to hang outside a school and cast judgment on the kids this way. A boy trying to look tough "hood style"? What does this mean? It's so racist and coded I think you must be joking. Or super clueless!

+1000. OP knows absolutely nothing about any of these kids and it making judgements based on ignorance. New flash, overachieving kids smoke weed and do drugs just as much as sometimes more than middle of the road kids. Either ask for feedback of the school and school body and then take a tour or just choose a school. Making instance judgements is a bad look.

Trust me, the overachieving kids at our MCPS HS are not doing weed or drugs. They either have no time to or are too scared to do that.

too scared to smoke pot? no time to go to a party? seems unlikely.

[Anonymous]

Parents really believe that there overachiever busy kid with 25 ECs, 3 hrs if homework and a job won't do these things? If they wabt to they'll find a way. They aren't immune.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the one hand, well, okay, good to do school research.

On the other hand, it seems sort of creepy to hang outside a school and cast judgment on the kids this way. A boy trying to look tough "hood style"? What does this mean? It's so racist and coded I think you must be joking. Or super clueless!

+1000. OP knows absolutely nothing about any of these kids and it making judgements based on ignorance. New flash, overachieving kids smoke weed and do drugs just as much as sometimes more than middle of the road kids. Either ask for feedback of the school and school body and then take a tour or just choose a school. Making instance judgements is a bad look.

Trust me, the overachieving kids at our MCPS HS are not doing weed or drugs. They either have no time to or are too scared to do that.

too scared to smoke pot? no time to go to a party? seems unlikely.

If you think things like "no time to go to a party" is unlikely for overachieving kids, then it is likely that our definitions of "overachieving" differ.

Of course there could be exceptions...

[Anonymous]

Weed is everywhere.
All the kids do not smoke but it is more common than you think.