OP, I grew up in the panhandle of Florida in the late 80's and early 90's...my HS party culture was way out there compared to whatever we see around here. We had parties at the beach, in the woods or in the affluent neighborhoods... parties all the time.

Here, it seems kids don't cruze, congregate, go to the woods or do much of anything. The last 2 HS parties we had in our neighborhood, were both kinda odd...(according to my kid) nothing like what I saw.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sports helps for sure. I always hear parents sneer at those of us who have our kiddos enrolled in sports but those kids for the most part are typically late to the party (hehe) since they have so many sporting commitments.

The athletes are the biggest partiers out of all the students, particularly sports like football, lacrosse, baseball, cheerleading and swimming.

The distance runners seem to be the exception.

But, honestly, having a high school athlete in those 5 sports listed above significantly increases the likelihood of having a kid who parties, drinks and experiments with drugs.

+1,000 the athletes come from upper middle class wealth. Not surprising. They all stick together.

Have to disagree. My two kids are athletes. Neither parties like that due to practice/game schedule. I've noted female friends who have limited activities are the ones who have to go to every party and max out on the bad behavior. Each of my kids goes out to varying degrees but work'/school/sports comes first.

Keep your kids busy. Make academics, sports, activities their focus. Get to know the parents of the other kids. Don't bring your kids to drop-off playdates where you don't know the parents fairly well. That's my formula. But my DC is in 9th grade and can't drive yet.

I need advice for once she can drive. How do other parents handle it?

Anonymous wrote:When does the partying start?

--9th grader has zero interest in that scene but wondering if that will change.

Kids are very scheduled these days compared to the 90s.

It really depends on the crowd they hang with. My older kids didn’t go to the big parties with the popular kids, but they did go to smaller parties with their chorus friends. Alcohol was involved, but contained.