<p>I’m a high school senior with a brother who’s a sophomore at flagship university an hour away from home. I am shocked at how many high school girls I see partying and doing everything from narcotics, binge drinking and casual sex with older guys at college parties. Most of the time they’re acting crazier than the girls actually in college. They even leave little to the imagination on their twitter and instagram. Do parents not know how to check their kid’s social media?</p>
<p>I would never let my future 16-17 y.o. daughter visit a college for a weekend. Who are the type to let their kids go do this… frequently? They have to know the level of debauchery going on, right?</p>
<p>Allowing your underage daughter to go away for the weekend to get wasted and hook up with random older guys is disgusting. And embarrassing for the family.</p>
<p>You are obviously not a parent. It’s not as simple as you make it out to be. In answer to your question–no, most parents don’t know the level of debauchery and would probably be mortified if they did. Their kids are unlikely to be telling the truth about where they are going and not asking permission.</p>
<p>For those of us who live in college towns, there’s always the risk our kids will co-mingle with former classmates who have graduated and now live away from their parents on campus. And if there’s not a college nearby, high school kids can always find older people to party with if that is what they are into. Never underestimate the ability of some kids to find “thrills” if they want to.</p>
<p>As for social media, it’s also not as easy as you think. How does one monitor a kid’s Instagram account remotely, when they are only accessing it on a smart phone?</p>
<p>Some students, like me, have visited schools for weekends for academic reasons. There are some party students out there who go for the wrong reasons, but it can be beneficial to get a feel of the campus. Some colleges even have programs where students can visit over night. It really depends.</p>
<p>Most of the girls I know have wide open twitter and instagram profiles. It’s as easy as googling your daughter’s name and clicking the respective web links. As for going and not asking permission? I find that unlikely. You can very easily google your kid and figure out where they’re at by what they’re posting on social media. If that doesn’t work, iCloud.com and iPhone apps let you track very easily where we are. I assume most of these girls are allowed to travel to these colleges because they go for the weekend many times. How could a parent not know what is going on? Or why the older guys from their high school are inviting them to the university… I mean seriously.</p>
<p>What do you do when your child doesn’t use his or her real name on social media? I only wish it were as easy to track and control teens as you believe.</p>
<p>What if your child says “I’m spending the night at Anna’s”–something she does often–and because she drives her own car, you just assume she is there? How would you ever know that she was actually staying at an off-campus apartment of an older former classmate from HS and partying into the wee hours? Where there’s a will there’s a way with some kids…</p>
<p>Of course, Consolation, but how is a parent supposed to know what a child is doing apart from what their child told them? If there is no evidence you can find, how is a parent to know?</p>
<p>Lax…I’m not sure I understand why you started this thread. Yes, some parents let their high school aged daughters visit college campuses. Heck…some parents let their SONS visit college campuses too. Yes, there are some things happening that are less than wonderful. But you are making it sound like every HS student who visits a college campus has no common sense, and will become involved in this nonsense.</p>
<p>At what point is a teenager “ready” to make good decisions on a college campus? Will I let my daughter go visit her friends at college next year when she’s a senior in high school? Maybe…probably. I figure that she will be going to college on her own a little over a year from now. If she’s going to be ready to completely move away from home 14 months from now, I think I should be able to trust her to go away for the weekend 10 months from now. </p>
<p>I can tell you all for certain, the average high schooler is not that sneaky. Social media tells you everything you need to know. And there’s no way parents don’t know kids are going. They’re gone for the weekend and posting tailgate and party pics all over their social media! Parents want to look to the other way and be in denial, fine. I’m telling you what I see: high school girls going nuts and the parents enabling them.</p>
<p>High school guys, like me, aren’t getting supplied alcohol and drugs so older girls can take advantage of us. But I think you all can imagine what happens to high school girls…</p>
<p>Oh please. Stop. You are very much over generalizing this situation. And as mentioned…as a HS student, how do YOU have first hand knowledge of what is actually happening on college campuses…?</p>
<p>You know what you have seen in a very small sample. You don’t know ANYTHING about what parents know or think or whether they are complicit in their kids’ actions. And again–how do YOU have firsthand knowledge of all this wanton behavior?</p>
<p>You aren’t giving your peers much credit. Sure, there are “some” that are out of control and would take advantage or visiting a college campus. Of course, you are also assuming that all college kids are doing this sort of thing. Or perhaps it’s what you assume YOU will be doing when you head to college? No need to make generalizations.</p>
<p>I’ve been visiting my older brother at college the past two years. I have friends that are… girls… who tell everyone what they do. This is what is happening whether you all want to believe it or not.</p>
<p>Thank you all for providing insight as to how girls are getting away with it. None of you believe your angel would ever act like that. Denial is more powerful than I ever imagined. Parents don’t monitor the social media because they don’t want to see the reality. Heck, it’s possible you do see the kid at parties and assume she’s just sipping soda and is asleep by 11p. I’ve seen girls in NHS with me doing molly and hooking up with random 22 yo frat guys and being at school Monday like nothing happened.</p>