Do Most Students at Sidwell Smoke Pot?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

OP here. Thank you for answering my question as to how common pot smoking is at Sidwell. Seeing Malia do it just struck me as odd because at my public h.s. the very top students (who weren't even Harvard bound) weren't smoking it. So it seems somewhat surprising to me that the top kids at Sidwell are doing it. I can't imagine Malia is the only one

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

OP here. Thank you for answering my question as to how common pot smoking is at Sidwell. Seeing Malia do it just struck me as odd because at my public h.s. the very top students (who weren't even Harvard bound) weren't smoking it. So it seems somewhat surprising to me that the top kids at Sidwell are doing it. I can't imagine Malia is the only one

OP, are you in your 40s? I am 46 and there was very little pot smoking in my large MoCo high school. If you did smoke, you were likely to be labeled a stoner or a pot head. However, having a few beers or wine coolers (!) on a Friday or Saturday night was fairly prevalent across the spectrum of academic performance -- Harvard to Harvard on the Pike. I have a DD in another NWDC private. At her school, it seems that casual pot smoking has somewhat replaced drinking as a recreational activity among many students, particularly the older ones. Today's pot smokers are not the stoners of my youth. It has been destigmatized and that's not all that surprising given the relaxation of marijuana laws across the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

OP here. Thank you for answering my question as to how common pot smoking is at Sidwell. Seeing Malia do it just struck me as odd because at my public h.s. the very top students (who weren't even Harvard bound) weren't smoking it. So it seems somewhat surprising to me that the top kids at Sidwell are doing it. I can't imagine Malia is the only one

I have one at a top Private and one at a Public. Both schools have groups of kids that do smoke pot and both have groups that do not. No difference.

[Anonymous]

I am 48, grew up here and went to high school here. There was plenty of pot and alcohol in my school, there was even a little ecstasy and a small trace of cocaine. I doubt too much has changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am 48, grew up here and went to high school here. There was plenty of pot and alcohol in my school, there was even a little ecstasy and a small trace of cocaine. I doubt too much has changed.

Actually from every survey I've ever seen, there has been a change. Drug use among teens has gone DOWN from what it was in the 70's-90's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is that drug use is generally more prevalent at the elite schools because of easy access and resources. What I don't understand is how a parent not know that their kid smokes pot. I mean the crap wreaks and lingers...

I really don't get the argument that private school kids are more likely to do drugs because they have more $$$. At publics pot usage is more prevalent among the poor than the high achieving upper middle class.

I'm sure, in addition to economic issues, there are social issues that factor into why it is more prevalent in elite school settings. Pot is probably low on the list of the drugs being used in elite schools. I think when you compare the use of drugs (cocaine, ecstasy, meth, prescriptions, etc.) overall the numbers are higher in elite schools because those kids tend to have the resources to get them -- whether it be the money to buy them or coping some from their parents.

Boy. This makes me want to rush out and put my kid on the waiting list for Sidwell

It's just not Sidwell, it's all of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

OP here. Thank you for answering my question as to how common pot smoking is at Sidwell. Seeing Malia do it just struck me as odd because at my public h.s. the very top students (who weren't even Harvard bound) weren't smoking it. So it seems somewhat surprising to me that the top kids at Sidwell are doing it. I can't imagine Malia is the only one

I have one at a top Private and one at a Public. Both schools have groups of kids that do smoke pot and both have groups that do not. No difference.

But generally speaking, smoking pot is not common among the types of kids who get admitted to Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The question pertained to TOP students at publics. Judging from some of the responses on this thread drug usage at schools like Sidwell seems fairly common. At public schools, the bulk of drug use is among lower income or not very high achieving students.

:snort:

Keep telling yourself that.

- top student from public school who enjoyed my share of weed

So your honestly saying that the % of kids smoking weed wasn't higher in the general classes than in the AP's?

Of course the amount of weed was lower among the students in the AP classes than other students. But your implication that drug use is not also common among the AP crowd - or is less common than at private high schools - is silly. Indeed, at least in my experience, many of the AP public school crowd are friends and neighbors with the private school crowd, and they sometimes get stoned together!

It's almost like none of you ever were teens. Have you repressed memories of what we all did?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

OP here. Thank you for answering my question as to how common pot smoking is at Sidwell. Seeing Malia do it just struck me as odd because at my public h.s. the very top students (who weren't even Harvard bound) weren't smoking it. So it seems somewhat surprising to me that the top kids at Sidwell are doing it. I can't imagine Malia is the only one

I have one at a top Private and one at a Public. Both schools have groups of kids that do smoke pot and both have groups that do not. No difference.

But generally speaking, smoking pot is not common among the types of kids who get admitted to Harvard.

Really? I just graduated from Harvard and had plenty of classmates who smoked pot. And it wasn't like they all came in as puritans and suddenly decided that, "wow, I'm now in college and have reached the promised land, so I can START toking up". Get your heads out of your arses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

OP here. Thank you for answering my question as to how common pot smoking is at Sidwell. Seeing Malia do it just struck me as odd because at my public h.s. the very top students (who weren't even Harvard bound) weren't smoking it. So it seems somewhat surprising to me that the top kids at Sidwell are doing it. I can't imagine Malia is the only one

OP, as a teacher I'll point out that there are two kinds of "top kids": There are the naturally gifted, brilliant ones who just "get things" with minimal effort. Then there are those that listen carefully, study hard, follow instructions. From what I've seen, the former *can* sometimes be the ones that can be "bad"/"dangerous" in social settings. They're more willing to take risks, academically as well as socially. The latter may still break the rules, but it is antithetical to what they're used to -- it's novel to them and usually rare. Your assumptions about "top kids" seem based on the latter, but private schools have a pretty big contingent of the former as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is that drug use is generally more prevalent at the elite schools because of easy access and resources. What I don't understand is how a parent not know that their kid smokes pot. I mean the crap wreaks and lingers...

I really don't get the argument that private school kids are more likely to do drugs because they have more $$$. At publics pot usage is more prevalent among the poor than the high achieving upper middle class.

I'm sure, in addition to economic issues, there are social issues that factor into why it is more prevalent in elite school settings. Pot is probably low on the list of the drugs being used in elite schools. I think when you compare the use of drugs (cocaine, ecstasy, meth, prescriptions, etc.) overall the numbers are higher in elite schools because those kids tend to have the resources to get them -- whether it be the money to buy them or coping some from their parents.

Boy. This makes me want to rush out and put my kid on the waiting list for Sidwell

It's just not Sidwell, it's all of them.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

OP here. Thank you for answering my question as to how common pot smoking is at Sidwell. Seeing Malia do it just struck me as odd because at my public h.s. the very top students (who weren't even Harvard bound) weren't smoking it. So it seems somewhat surprising to me that the top kids at Sidwell are doing it. I can't imagine Malia is the only one

I have one at a top Private and one at a Public. Both schools have groups of kids that do smoke pot and both have groups that do not. No difference.

But generally speaking, smoking pot is not common among the types of kids who get admitted to Harvard.

So you think.

[Anonymous]

The posters on this site should spend a little time with the enormous body of research on the subject. Kids from wealthy families are just as likely to use drugs as those from lower SES. White kids are just as likely as Black and Hispanics. Smart kids just as likely as the less gifted. All of these comments just play into a narrative that reinforces existing prejudice. It also provides false comfort to parents who believe, falsely, that they can insulate their children from these exposures. So, the next time you pour that large glass of Chardonnay after a long day, just remember that your kids don't make the same artificial distinction between alcohol and pot that we once did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The posters on this site should spend a little time with the enormous body of research on the subject. Kids from wealthy families are just as likely to use drugs as those from lower SES. White kids are just as likely as Black and Hispanics. Smart kids just as likely as the less gifted. All of these comments just play into a narrative that reinforces existing prejudice. It also provides false comfort to parents who believe, falsely, that they can insulate their children from these exposures. So, the next time you pour that large glass of Chardonnay after a long day, just remember that your kids don't make the same artificial distinction between alcohol and pot that we once did.

+100!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Yes, actually. I would say this is true.