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I'm like OP in that I'm also from the Midwest. So when I was in HS in the 1990's, we did not have Beach Week. (Maybe we could have had "Lake Week.") My DH grew up in Los Angeles, and they definitely did not have a Beach Week or anything similar.
Anyway, neither DH nor I feels deprived for not having had a Beach Week, and yet I still have a lot of fun in HS. My son is an 11th grader, and we're not going to let him go next year. It just sounds like too much of a chaotic free-for-all. We'll probably fund something for DS and his buddies after they graduate from college -- maybe a trip to Hawaii. Age 22 seems much more sensible. |
| Beach week is a "right of passage" for the kids here though it is absolutely a terrible idea. My dh got his first tattoo at his, my nephew had a gun pulled on him last year, tons of drinking debauchery. makes me terrified for my sons this year. |
OP here. Uh. Damn. I don't even know what else to say to that. If you're willing, would you be willing to tell me a little more about the gun thing? Like seriously, I can get over a terrible tattoo. Guns getting pulled out are another level of trouble. |
Well a private school kid was shot on Old Georgetown Road ... so it can happen everywhere. I have never heard of getting tattoos and gun fights at beach week... I think PP is a little off base. |
I mean, not at the same time, at least. -OP. |
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I graduated from a high school in Loudoun County in 2007. We went to beach week in Myrtle with many other high schools from all around NoVa--it was completely crazy. Handles and handles of liquor, endless cases of beer, sex, weed... you name it. The police were around but pretty lax as long as kids were keeping it in the house and not running wild through the streets. My husband, on the other hand, went to Dewey for beach week in 2006 (same debauchery as above) but the police were MUCH stricter. He said plenty of people were arrested and/or evicted during their stay.
Talk to your son about every scenario that could go wrong. Attend a police briefing with him if it's available (that wasn't a thing for us, at least that I know of). I had a blast partying all week but I will be absolutely TERRIFIED to let my children go. |
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Do not play frogger trying to cross Coastal Hwy. So many people have been killed doing this that they are putting fences up on the dividers.
DS is going as we have a family beach house in OC. DH will be chaperoning. It’s a good group of kids, but we’ll still be discussing ground rules and have an eye on them. |
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This should be required viewing for all teens, whether they're going to beach week/college, etc.: It's about a WVU freshman who was pledging a fraternity and binge drank which resulted in his death. It's about bystanders and being able to identify the signs of alcohol poisoning. The doctor from WVU that worked on Nolan's case explains the dangers of liquor vs. beer in the BEST way I've ever seen (around 24 minutes). |
Thanks for posting this- what a powerful video. I will definitely be showing this to my senior, who is just starting to talk about beach week (we're still unsure about letting him go) and is headed to college in the fall. |
| Plenty of DMV kids complete high school without attending Beach Week (or similar). Plenty of parents don't allow it. Plenty of parents don't pay for it, so it doesn't happen. Plenty of parents don't allow the use of the car, so it doesn't happen. Plenty of parents just say no, they say no to "good" kids, they say no to 18 years. If parents don't facilitate it, btw, it's not very likely to happen. |
Amen. Finally, a sensible one. |
| Kid I knew in HS went and got two DUIs.. |
I’m a NP with much younger kids, so I’m only learning about this. Yes, the kids can do what he/she wants at 18, but someone has to pay for it. And even if it’s the kid’s own money, the parents are likely to be paying for college. So the parents ultimately have veto power (I’m thinking of my own background, where college tuition money would have been rescinded by my parents if I went without their approval). |
+1. We didn’t have anything like this where I grew up. I would have loved it. And now as a mother I’m petrified. |
| I went as a junior and senior. Drank a lot smoked a lot of pot. Didn't really hang out with the friends I went down with. Hooked up with catholic school girls both years!! Good times!! |