I’m an immigrant from EU and a father of an 8th grader in the Bay Area. I’m hearing a lot of stories and alcohol, marijuana, and other substance at local high schools, sometimes even middle schools. It goes across the board, the only difference is that richer kids in private schools seem to have access to a broader range of substances. In case this is an inevitable reality, I’m interested in hearing some real life stories, ideally from younger Americans from the Bay Area. Were you doing substances before college? Since when? How often? How common was it at your school? How straightforward was your path towards a reasonable adult life? If you are a parent of a middle|high-schooler, please feel free to share any relevant experience.
Are you an undercover reporter?
I have a teen going to high school - there are 1 or 2 incidents when someone is caught vaping or smoking - in a year. That is it. Don’t know what zip code you are in - definitely not in good schools.
In high school I smoked weed, drank and did cocaine. I guess that’s why I work at Amazon and not Facebook 🤷♂️
Heavily depends on your area. I grew up on the East Coast, suburbs, in highschool 7 years ago. Upper-middle class area. Weed was common for sure. To be honest I wouldn’t worry much about your kid trying out weed unless they make it their life or become lazy shits. Heard about a few kids who did get hooked on heavy shit like heroin, that’s scary, but in my town was definitely a very very small group (I hear it was much worse in neighboring towns though). By college time your kid will probably have opportunities to try psychedelics and coke. These drugs aren’t rampant through the school, but you can get your hands on them if you want. If your family has a history of addiction I might be a little worried. Otherwise I think as long as your kids grow up to have a spine and know right from wrong you don’t have much to worry about
weed everyday during senior year in high school, ranked 4th and full ride to college. SAT: 1560/1600.
indeed, did the same during senior year of college too. and now during working maybe once a month
sometimes I wonder what's the point of trying so hard in high school with 1560/1600 when you end up working at some unknown company
MARIHUANA
Depends on area and school. Never even drank until college
have real talks with your kid without villanizing them or being too strict. kids get creative because of that
focus pills are common in schools esp in intense majors (eg: stem, finance, law etc). this can start showing as early as SAT pressure begins. weed is most popular. lean has some cult following in party socials. hallucinogens show up often at dance scenes like edm fests. talk to your kids, understand what they are experiencing. constructive convos can go long way. between peer pressure and strict parenting, kids often make stupid choices.
I went to a private high school in the Bay and one of my friends home brewed beer when we were seniors. So I first got drunk at 17. Now I work at Amazon so you could say my life spiraled out of control after that
🤣 FFS
Lol I brewed alcohol at 16 and 17 with my high school buddies too. We were all in honors chemistry and realized we were probs smarter than most folks making alcohol professionally so we made some and it was good and got drunk 😂. I’m now a consultant for multi billion dollar companies. Let the kids play!