30 years ago in Southern Maryland it was a big deal, and now in Northeastern Maryland still a big deal. Graduation is usually about 2 weeks before school lets out, and many kids go to the beach during that time. I never went (was allowed though), and my kids are not allowed. I have known too many “good kids” get into far too much trouble. S1, hs grad 2012 went camping in the Shenandoah with 5 friends, and S2, hs grad 2015 wants to do a “meet and greet” with one of his favorite musicians during that time. Beach week in MD is crazy!
Around here it’s called First Week and is a big deal…which my Ds did not do. I would plan a cool family trip instead of letting my HS senior go to the beach, some of these trips unchaperoned. But it’s big enough here that back in the day I was advised that it would limit attendance if our wedding was during that time. Um, no that’s when it suited me.
Lol @mathyone, our seniors have to take finals just like everyone else. Graduation is in the evening of the last day of school.
Just realized that we planned a few days at the beach at the other end of the state the week after graduation. Hope D doesn’t mind that grandma’s coming with. :-j Just kidding…she knows and doesn’t mind.
Huge deal here in NoVA. D went on a short inexpensive cruise with a group of friends (and a few moms) , S went to Outer Banks (an adult was in the rental house).
Never heard of this while growing up in the midwest. Then again, we didn’t exactly live close to the beach!
D1 graduated from a school in NJ. There was no senior week at the beach, but her best friend’s parents hosted and chaperoned a week at their Colorado home.
D2 graduated from a school abroad and there was a senior week at an all inclusive resort. We let her go, but we stayed at a nearby hotel. We thought we were the only parents doing that, but later found out many other parents also had similar idea.
I was the OP of the thread pasted into post 8. After much consideration, I let my son go to beach week in Ocean City MD last year. He had to pay for it, and find his place, etc. “All of his friends were going” (in this case parents confirmed that was pretty much true), and he had great grades and hadn’t done anything to cause me not let him go. All turned out fine. I did make him text me proof of life every day.
It’s a regional thing. I’d never heard of it before joining cc.
OP back, and thanks for all the viewpoints. I guess it might sound extreme to some; but because I grew up with the tradition, and because my D has been a pretty responsible kid (hoping I don’t jinx her by typing that), I never considered not letting her go (and I am definitely not what anyone would term a “cool” mom). I was especially happy to hear from parents whose kids emerged unscathed, and @1214mom, I will implement the “proof of life text” idea.
Don’t know how the beach rentals work as mine is camping for three nights, but I think they get a parent guarantor, send in scans of licenses in advance, etc. Chaperones? Maybe in some cases, but I suspect not many.
My D is paying her expenses, but she has been responsible for “entertainment” costs for the last year or so anyway. And of course she will forego the income she would have earned for those four days, but she’ll be working the rest of the summer. Hopefully she and her friends (all of whom I know, as well as their parents) will make smart choices, stay safe, but still have fun. I keep reminding myself that she’ll be 600+ miles away come August, so this isn’t really that stressful in comparison.
We had “senior week” after college finals ended, and before graduation. I went with a bunch of my sorority sisters down the shore to Barnegat Light, NJ. Doubt I would allow that for a highschool senior though!
@1518mom, Seniors take finals like everyone else? I take it your school doesn’t have “exam exemptions”? My daughter graduated without ever taking a final exam in high school. Not happy about that, as I think preparing for a finals helps the kids learn the material better and also helps them learn important study skills for college.
Students who aren’t getting good grades are required to take finals. And, if they are seniors, they take these finals several weeks before the rest of the class does. This means, of course, that the class has to finish in time for the seniors, and then there is the excessive disruption of senior exams followed by exams for everyone two weeks later. Again, wasting a month of time for everyone.
Never heard of this in our part of Massachusetts. Here senior week is the week after senior classes end (about three weeks before end of school for everyone else at least- and includes senior banquet, prom and then graduation. Usually around the last week in May. When I was in HS in a different part of MA we went to the cape in the wee hours of the morning after the prom but usually only for the day to sleep on the beach and recuperate from the evening before…
Not a thing here in Michigan.
I did go down to Myrtle Beach with my then-bf and two friends for a week but it was on my own dime and definitely not the norm.
We celebrate here by going out for the night (prom) and then that’s that.
I live in the Midwest and no, I’ve never heard of this before.
We have one and it is terrifying. I live in a beach town. The last three days of school the seniors go to graduation practice in the morning and spend the rest of the day at the beach. There used to be a tradition of kids renting houses right near the beach with no adult supervision and partying the entire week. Sadly, a boy died from alcohol poisoning the night before graduation a few years ago. I think some families still allow their kids to rent houses but the practice is not as widespread as it used to be.
Don’t have this here (suburban Chicago) though I’m sure some families let kids use beach houses in MI or lake houses in WI for fun.
I grew up in the Philly area in the mid-70s and we sure did have senior week. We went to Wildwood and stayed in a dive hotel. The drinking age was 18, and I was 17 so I didn’t go out. I think my friends went out once. We went to the boardwalk and fried ourselves on the beach.
We still live in the general vicinity, and yes, there is senior week. My kids weren’t allowed to go and didn’t care.
A student from a neighboring school fell down an elevator shaft and was killed during senior week a few years ago.
Is there a “Parents’ Week”?
Seems like that would be more appropriate after 4 years of …this, not to mention paying for the next 4 years.
I grew up on the central Jersey shore and we didn’t have senior week. We went to the beach after prom and graduation and had one day, after finals and before graduation, when we went to Great Adventure as a class. I live in TX now and the kids sometimes go to the gulf (Galveston, Corpus Cristi or South Padre) for a weekend after prom or longer after graduation. I wouldn’t say it’s the norm but there are several groups that go each year. Grad cruises are becoming more popular since there are more sailing out of Galveston now and jaunts down to Cozumel or Cancun. Those are usually groups of families.
Huge here in NEPA. I didn’t let my son go, he didn’t want to go anyway. Parents rent the houses for their kids- it’s a week of drugs, drinking and every year we hear of local kids arrested, a few cases of rape. In my job I have the opportunity to work with the Ocean City MD Police and they report it’s getting worse every year. More and more arrests for drugs and weapons. Fights, kids ODing. Just a week of debauchery.
It is very big in most of Eastern, especially SE, PA and parts of NJ and has been for a long time. Basically a week of drinking, partying, sex and occasionally the beach. I too know of a few kids who were arrested, including one who lost his appointment to the Naval Academy because of the arrest. My daughter will be a senior next year and is incredibly prudish about such things, hence she won’t even ask. But if she did the answer would be a huge NO.