Do Most Students at Sidwell Smoke Pot?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess as a parent of a toddler who is trying to decide whether to send DD to private or public, I find this notion of marijuana being so prevalent at top privates to be quite disturbing. Obviously plenty of public school students smoke pot as well. But in my experience it was definitely not the norm among the very top students, and I'm apprehensive about spending $480,000 to put her in a peer group that is more likely to smoke pot than what she would be with if she were a presumably top student in a public school.

I was a top student at a public school and I smoked pot. So did most of my friends. We also drank - a ton. Stole it from our parents liquor cabinets and got older kids to buy cases of beer for us.

So again. Where does the 62% of kids who don't behave in this behavior come from?

1/2 to 2/3 of them are lying on the survey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess as a parent of a toddler who is trying to decide whether to send DD to private or public, I find this notion of marijuana being so prevalent at top privates to be quite disturbing. Obviously plenty of public school students smoke pot as well. But in my experience it was definitely not the norm among the very top students, and I'm apprehensive about spending $480,000 to put her in a peer group that is more likely to smoke pot than what she would be with if she were a presumably top student in a public school.

Teenagers are going to drink and smoke pot - and some might have sex. I really wish we embraced the European model so we could get the binge-ness out of our society. But this really ought not be a determining factor in a choice between private or public schools.

Um no. A school's culture for most parents is the most critical factor in the decision of where to send their child. Most parents would not view a school that has a pervasive drug culture as a plus.

Np here. Your last sentence is just brilliant. Very insightful.

At any school, in suburban or urban America, if a kid wants pot they can get it.

Of course. A kid can get pot if they want it. But most aren't going to seek it out if no one in their social group smokes it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess as a parent of a toddler who is trying to decide whether to send DD to private or public, I find this notion of marijuana being so prevalent at top privates to be quite disturbing. Obviously plenty of public school students smoke pot as well. But in my experience it was definitely not the norm among the very top students, and I'm apprehensive about spending $480,000 to put her in a peer group that is more likely to smoke pot than what she would be with if she were a presumably top student in a public school.

I was a top student at a public school and I smoked pot. So did most of my friends. We also drank - a ton. Stole it from our parents liquor cabinets and got older kids to buy cases of beer for us.

So again. Where does the 62% of kids who don't behave in this behavior come from?

1/2 to 2/3 of them are lying on the survey.

At one point I would have thought so too. But as an adult I've meant lots of people who said they've never smoked it. And there was a thread on DCUM where the overwhelming majority said they had never tried it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess as a parent of a toddler who is trying to decide whether to send DD to private or public, I find this notion of marijuana being so prevalent at top privates to be quite disturbing. Obviously plenty of public school students smoke pot as well. But in my experience it was definitely not the norm among the very top students, and I'm apprehensive about spending $480,000 to put her in a peer group that is more likely to smoke pot than what she would be with if she were a presumably top student in a public school.

I was a top student at a public school and I smoked pot. So did most of my friends. We also drank - a ton. Stole it from our parents liquor cabinets and got older kids to buy cases of beer for us.

This is not the norm among top students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess as a parent of a toddler who is trying to decide whether to send DD to private or public, I find this notion of marijuana being so prevalent at top privates to be quite disturbing. Obviously plenty of public school students smoke pot as well. But in my experience it was definitely not the norm among the very top students, and I'm apprehensive about spending $480,000 to put her in a peer group that is more likely to smoke pot than what she would be with if she were a presumably top student in a public school.

Teenagers are going to drink and smoke pot - and some might have sex. I really wish we embraced the European model so we could get the binge-ness out of our society. But this really ought not be a determining factor in a choice between private or public schools.

Um no. A school's culture for most parents is the most critical factor in the decision of where to send their child. Most parents would not view a school that has a pervasive drug culture as a plus.

The United States is a drug culture. Our whole society is evolving before our eyes and over the past 20 to 100 years. Drugs have been a part of Whitman, Churchill, Roosevelt, DeMatha and yes Sidwell and every other school since the 1960's. If you seriously think this is something confined to independent schools or that it isn't an issue nationwide, then you have had your head in the sand. And if this is a determining factor for where your toddler is going to apply to schools, then you have other issues to confront.

Again surveys show that 62% of 18 year olds have NOT smoked pot. And less teens smoke now than in past decades.

[Anonymous]

Fewer, not less. Clearly you aren't Harvard material.

[Anonymous]

Funny to see all the defense for this behavior of this little twit and future real life "celebrity". I can guarantee you that she will be all over tabloids and magazines for years to come doing more stupid crap like this and all of you liberal idiots will continue to make yourselves look ridiculous by defending it.

[Anonymous]

On college confidential, there is a thread started by a high school student asking current Harvard students what the party scene is like. The consensus is that it is abysmal.

[Anonymous]

Pot smoking in high school is certainly not confined to private school. Any of the elite public high schools in this area will certainly have a lot of pot smoking students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funny to see all the defense for this behavior of this little twit and future real life "celebrity". I can guarantee you that she will be all over tabloids and magazines for years to come doing more stupid crap like this and all of you liberal idiots will continue to make yourselves look ridiculous by defending it.

That's a bold guarantee.

You sound kind of stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess as a parent of a toddler who is trying to decide whether to send DD to private or public, I find this notion of marijuana being so prevalent at top privates to be quite disturbing. Obviously plenty of public school students smoke pot as well. But in my experience it was definitely not the norm among the very top students, and I'm apprehensive about spending $480,000 to put her in a peer group that is more likely to smoke pot than what she would be with if she were a presumably top student in a public school.

Teenagers are going to drink and smoke pot - and some might have sex. I really wish we embraced the European model so we could get the binge-ness out of our society. But this really ought not be a determining factor in a choice between private or public schools.

Um no. A school's culture for most parents is the most critical factor in the decision of where to send their child. Most parents would not view a school that has a pervasive drug culture as a plus.

Np here. Your last sentence is just brilliant. Very insightful.

At any school, in suburban or urban America, if a kid wants pot they can get it.

Of course. A kid can get pot if they want it. But most aren't going to seek it out if no one in their social group smokes it.

This school does not exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On college confidential, there is a thread started by a high school student asking current Harvard students what the party scene is like. The consensus is that it is abysmal.

Of course it is. Every student there was overworked and stressed out most of their childhoods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Funny to see all the defense for this behavior of this little twit and future real life "celebrity". I can guarantee you that she will be all over tabloids and magazines for years to come doing more stupid crap like this and all of you liberal idiots will continue to make yourselves look ridiculous by defending it.

That's a bold guarantee.

You sound kind of stupid.

She has been all over them while her dad is in the white house, you expect that to slow down when they are out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess as a parent of a toddler who is trying to decide whether to send DD to private or public, I find this notion of marijuana being so prevalent at top privates to be quite disturbing. Obviously plenty of public school students smoke pot as well. But in my experience it was definitely not the norm among the very top students, and I'm apprehensive about spending $480,000 to put her in a peer group that is more likely to smoke pot than what she would be with if she were a presumably top student in a public school.

Teenagers are going to drink and smoke pot - and some might have sex. I really wish we embraced the European model so we could get the binge-ness out of our society. But this really ought not be a determining factor in a choice between private or public schools.

Um no. A school's culture for most parents is the most critical factor in the decision of where to send their child. Most parents would not view a school that has a pervasive drug culture as a plus.

Np here. Your last sentence is just brilliant. Very insightful.

At any school, in suburban or urban America, if a kid wants pot they can get it.

Of course. A kid can get pot if they want it. But most aren't going to seek it out if no one in their social group smokes it.

This school does not exist.

Really. So every teenager in every high school in America has friends that smoke pot?

[Anonymous]

Yup! But I also think that you need to distinguish between kids smoking every day and letting it interfere with their life/studies, versus occasional use at parties or concerts (same with alcohol). How is pot any different than drinking? Frankly more worried about binge drinking in terms of health effects and bad behavior. In our recent experience with two DDs at Sidwell, the top students were definitely not smoking pot all the time and many did not smoke at all. It was easily available, as it is at any school in the area, whether public or private, right now according to our kids.