Originally Posted by
Crankin
We had all the usual teen issues, just like the suburban town my kids grew up in, which is much more isolated, almost rural, compared to my hometown. Why were you surprised that straight A students got pregnant? Smart kids have sex! One would like to think that a smart kid would use birth control, but after 30+ years of working with teens, I can tell you that doesn't happen all of the time.
And today, the kind of neighborhood you grew up in doesn't exist anywhere around where I live. Neighborhoods are segregated by income/SES, more than racial identity. A poor family could not afford to buy even a dilapidated home where the college professors and police chief live.
My son lives in a different close in suburb with his wife. It has a much more city-like feel. Around here, towns are very stratified by class, so some places have more professionals and other places are more blue collar suburbs. It's always been like this here, but now, it's worse than when I grew up. It will be interesting to see what my son does when his child nears school age. They have a home, a nice home, but on a busy street, in a blue collar suburb. It's a more up and coming place. I would not send my kids to school in the place he lives, because they are not so great. Maybe average, at best. He could afford to move to a town with better schools if he sold his home, so I can't predict. Both he and his wife, who grew up in the city, are city type people. But, it really did not work for her. The schools in Boston are only OK if you are in advanced classes in elementary school (she was) and get into one of the 3 exam schools. She missed getting in by one point on the entrance exam, went to the local middle school in grade 7, where she got called "white girl," and felt generally threatened. Because her parents weren't capable of helping her, she got herself into a Friends school for grade 8 and then a prep school that is arts based for HS. She got a scholarship and had to arrange for and pay for transportation on the commuter rail, out to the school. So while it is not like that where my son lives, I hope she learned soething from her experience. They can't afford private school at 30K a year.