Anonymous wrote:The poor schools do crack to do manual labor the richer ones do Adderall to study

not to mention lots of oxy

The poor schools do crack to do manual labor the richer ones do Adderall to study

A Whitman student died of a fentanyl OD last year, a few years ago, a Whitman student got so drunk at a party he fell into a puddle and drowned, and their school dance was exposed as rife with drug use and sexual assault.

This is life at a big public high school, anywhere you go -- whether it is Whitman, BCC, or any of the MCPS schools, or really anywhere in the country.

There is a massive drug problem going on, and there is no avoiding it. Only talking to your kids and frankly keeping tabs on them.

The wealthier the school, usually the Greta number of drugs.

Anonymous wrote:Is Winston Churchill a safer bet than these two to avoid drugs?

No. Same deal.

Is Winston Churchill a safer bet than these two to avoid drugs?

10:13 nailed it with what I pasted from their post, below (too long to quote all of it). The only change I'd make is that it's not just drugs at both schools, but that drugs can be found inside and outside of ALL HIGH SCHOOLS.


Neither school is "drug filled," but make no mistake parents, there are drugs at both, and they're being done both at and outside of school. And you'd be surprised by some, but not all, of the kids who are doing them.

Pot and alcohol are rampant, including among very good students - you can no longer say that because grades are good, there isn't a problem, or that the alcohol and pot use should be tolerated due to good grades.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you're kidding yourself if you expect any realistic feedback here. No parent can reasonably gauge whether there is a bigger issue with drugs at one MCPS HS vs. another one.

BCC is in an uproar right now bc the school newspaper wrote an expose. Good for them! But it doesn't really give a clear perspective on the day-to-day experience for most kids there (at least based on my own kid's experience.) And it really can't help you understand if another school has more or fewer issues with drugs.

RIGHT!

It's not like there's some index we can point you to that here are the "druggiest" high schools in MCPS.

I will say that based on DCUM feedback, we've heard less about visible drug issues at Whitman compared to B-CC, but that might not mean anything. Those parents just might not be DCUM posters.

Or the kids might be better at hiding it with special
Contacts they wear.
Drugs are at every high school. Unfortunately. Either school will have the majority of kids NOT using.

“Special contacts”???

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you're kidding yourself if you expect any realistic feedback here. No parent can reasonably gauge whether there is a bigger issue with drugs at one MCPS HS vs. another one.

BCC is in an uproar right now bc the school newspaper wrote an expose. Good for them! But it doesn't really give a clear perspective on the day-to-day experience for most kids there (at least based on my own kid's experience.) And it really can't help you understand if another school has more or fewer issues with drugs.

RIGHT!

It's not like there's some index we can point you to that here are the "druggiest" high schools in MCPS.

I will say that based on DCUM feedback, we've heard less about visible drug issues at Whitman compared to B-CC, but that might not mean anything. Those parents just might not be DCUM posters.

Or the kids might be better at hiding it with special
Contacts they wear.
Drugs are at every high school. Unfortunately. Either school will have the majority of kids NOT using.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving and we have rental choice. I have a kid who would probably be lured in. Hes not much of an academic. So I wanna choose carefully

These schools are all remarkably similar. Wealthier MCPS schools have always had this reputation; however, never heard anything this crazy until this post, so suspect it's being hyped to promote the usual far-right political agenda to make public schools into prisons.

wealthy families have more resources to sweep things under the rug.

Anonymous wrote:Moving and we have rental choice. I have a kid who would probably be lured in. Hes not much of an academic. So I wanna choose carefully

These schools are all remarkably similar. Wealthier MCPS schools have always had this reputation; however, never heard anything this crazy until this post, so suspect it's being hyped to promote the usual far-right political agenda to make public schools into prisons.

The problem here is how the OP phrased the question - and I don't dismiss the idea of this being a troll to bring Whitman into the larger conversation going on about BCC.

Neither school is "drug filled," but make no mistake parents, there are drugs at both, and they're being done both at and outside of school. And you'd be surprised by some, but not all, of the kids who are doing them.

Pot and alcohol are rampant, including among very good students - you can no longer say that because grades are good, there isn't a problem, or that the alcohol and pot use should be tolerated due to good grades. And alcohol is especially rampant among the younger girls (9th and 10th) grade. Those who are fairly secure tend to stop as they get a little older (11th and 12th) and don't need it as a social lubricant the way the younger ones do.

Hard drugs? Less prevalent, but present for sure and again and it starts younger than you think. Do not assume your child hasn't seen it going on. Ask questions and allow them to talk. It's very likely they won't be exposed to the harder drugs, but do not assume such because of friends having good grades/being active in sports, etc.

If your child is even the tiniest bit insecure and nervous about fitting in, have the hard conversations because they are vulnerable. I've been shocked, and not because I didn't think teens used drugs, but because I had a mental profile of those who did, and that profile has been shattered by incidents involving Whitman kids.

I don't actually think it's the money issue - that these kids have more money to access drugs. I'm not really sure if it's any more problematic in "rich" schools, but I do think that there is a head in the sand mentality among many parents that may allow it to fester. These are supervised kids who are busy, but who are (when they're not busy) assumed to be productively engaged.

I’d pick BCC. There are two feeder middle schools, which means kids come into high school with a bit more openness to new people. Whitman has only 1 feeder middle.

All schools have drinking and drug use - public and private

You said your kid is the type to be lured in and not an academic. Now is the time to pause and address why that is - are there underlying learning issues like difficulty reading, ADHD hyper or inattentive, anxiety, depression, social awkwardness? Get DC assessed and provide support.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving and we have rental choice. I have a kid who would probably be lured in. Hes not much of an academic. So I wanna choose carefully

The W's have always had the reputation of being more so than any other school including BCC

This is what I'd heard.

Rich people problems...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving and we have rental choice. I have a kid who would probably be lured in. Hes not much of an academic. So I wanna choose carefully

The W's have always had the reputation of being more so than any other school including BCC

This is what I'd heard.