<p>Yes, very common for decades. Maybe it’s more common in the snowbelt regions? We said “no” because it was a group of boys, no discernable responsible chaperones, way too vague of a plan. It was not difficult to say no. You get pretty good at saying no after a couple decades of parenting.</p>
<p>Not to diminish this family’s loss, or the loss to the Notre Dame community, but it’s more than a bit annoying that this kid makes the news because he’s a football player. If there was a hs senior accepted to an elite school who died on spring break in similar circumstances, it wouldn’t make the news.</p>
<p>The teen brain reacts differently to alcohol than an adult brain. There is strong research to support the idea that teen drinking leads to more frequent blackouts and highly impaired cognition.
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/04/health/04teen.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/04/health/04teen.html</a></p>
<p>This is not something that should be a “rite of passage.” It is predicative of addiction.</p>
<p>High school spring break trips are not the norm at our high school in sunny SoCal. But our band (before the economy went south) would often attend a band competition during The break–Hawaii, NY,etc. I never had a problem with sending my kids on these trips because the band kids were relatively tame and the supervision was pretty hands on.</p>
<p>Call me a weenie parent, but the “traditional” spring break should be reserved for college juniors and older students.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, sad but true.</p>
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<p>Not sure. I went to Myrtle Beach junior and senior year in high school (and my first couple of years in college), as did most of my friends. It was more unusual for someone not to go than it was for someone to go. We had fun and caused some trouble, but there were literally thousands of people there just like us. Go down to Myrtle Beach or Daytona or Panama City any weekend in March or April, or on “senior week” in May or June and you’ll see thousands of unaccompanied high schoolers. It is just something that people do.</p>
<p>" If there was a hs senior accepted to an elite school who died on spring break in similar circumstances, it wouldn’t make the news."</p>
<p>Recently we had the Princeton student jumping from the empire state building in the news (well, that’s more understandable, it was the empire state building), the Cornell student jumping from the gorges in the news, the murder at Yale in the news.</p>
<p>I think happenings at elite institutions are also “played up” in the news. If a student committed suicide at UMCP, would he/she be in the national news like the Cornell student?</p>
<p>I would argue that students accepted to elite institutions/students at elite institutions are also given (undeserved imho) “more newsworthy” status. </p>
<p>Down a notch, though, VA Tech shootings were in the news, UAlabama shooting was in the news.</p>
<p>Is it sad that these things make national news yet drive-bys that kill 11 year olds don’t? </p>
<p>I see promising football star and Yale admit as equally important…or equally frivolous. No young life SHOULD be more newsworthy based on playing a sport or how well he/she did in high school or how priviledged he or she is, end of story. It is quite odd that you singled out elite institution, as if that is anymore relevant?</p>
<p>I live in Florida in a coastal community. The beach scene here both when I grew up and now is college students on spring break, not high school students. It has been a rite of passage for college students to party during spring break here, but there has not been throngs of high school students. There are families with kids in K-12, but the groups of unaccompanied kids are college aged. I am used to the spring break trips for high school students for cheerleading, baseball, travel teams for soccer or volleyball, etc. Heck, the hotel/motel establishments don’t even want the college kids anymore, let alone the high school kids. MTV was banned from Daytona years ago, then ,Panama City this year and ended up going to Mexico, but even MTV markets to the college ranks. I guess the throngs of high school kids coming to Florida with only friends and money are passing themselves off as college age.</p>
<p>Two Columbia students on spring break visiting one of the kid’s families were caught up in a rip tide last month near where I live. One drowned. There was no alcohol or drugs involved, and not a group partying out of control. But it did make headlines here, sad headlines.</p>
<p>At D’s high school many, though by no means all, students go party on spring break with no parental chaperones (she’s not going). They also have “senior skip week” where those who don’t have any absences take off for a bacchanal at the beach. It is considered a rite of passage and I think it’s terrible. So far there have been no fatalities, but given these so-called rites of passage, I fear it’s only a matter of time.</p>
<p>My heart goes out to all of the families of those who die so tragically at such a young age.</p>
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This. Look, I think it’s awful that this happened and I feel terrible for the family. But it was an event that ultimately comes down to bad judgment on the individual’s part. End of story.</p>
<p>Spring Break at the beach is a big deal for h.s. students here. Our schools are on Spring Break right now and I’m sure hundreds from our area are at Myrtle Beach. Both my S’s (18 at the time) went with a big group of friends when they were seniors. They returned sunburned and broke (paid their own way) but otherwise unharmed.</p>
<p>A teenager from the next county from us over died at M.B. this week but not due to alcohol. He was riding in a car with friends and not wearing a seatbelt He was thrown fr. the car when they ran a stop sign and hit another car. </p>
<p>I am so sorry for these families.</p>
<p>It is defiantly not a “right of passage” and you don’t need to pay for your kid to go on it. However, if you have reservations about letting your 17 year old go because you don’t trust them, then you have some real issues and you need to sort them out fast. </p>
<p>In less than a year they will be in college (I am assuming since most parents on this site have college bound children). There will be peer pressure, there will being drinking, and there will be parties no matter where you child goes to school (alright maybe not BYU, but you get my point). Sure, it might not be as intense at spring break, but there are way more opportunities to party in the long run at college since they live there.</p>
<p>If you don’t trust them going on spring break, why would you even be on this site looking for info about colleges? If you don’t trust them on vacation you should not be willing to pay for college. In college in addition to staying away from dangerous things they need to commit themselves to doing work. How can you trust them to succeed in college if you can’t even trust them to keep themselves safe?</p>
<p>My husband went on spring break to Daytona when he was a senior in high school 30 years ago. This is not a new issue. My son is going as a high school senior next week - he planned and paid for the trip himself. Do I wish they weren’t going? Absolutely; however, Once they’re 18 or about to graduate from HS, you need to let them make their own decisions and hope they make good ones with what the parents have taught them up to this point.</p>
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<p>Actually, that’s where my NW upbringing and the Southern schools where my kids graduated collided.
If you are still paying, you ARE IN CHARGE, both legally and morally.
Beside that, are you paying even one dollar for the vacation? If so, you are probably legally liable for whatever you kid does.<br>
Just because they CAN make their own judgement in a legal sense doesn’t mean they are likely to make good legal choices.</p>
<p>When our school choirs go on trips, there is a rule that no one ever goes out on a balcony. When they went to Italy, on the Amalfi Coast, Son’s room was one of the few that had a balcony overlooking the water…of course they went out on it, but then the teacher found out about it and they were forbidden to go out on it again. </p>
<p>I always thought that rule was way over the top, but after hearing this story (and there really is at least one every year), I guess I understand it.</p>
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<p>How do you know that the parents were negligent? Perhaps they did have a talk with their son beforehand and he chose to ignore their advice or “boundaries.” Even “good kids” will eventually ignore parental advice or break established rules. Unfortunately for this kid, his decisions cost him his life.</p>
<p>We should not fool ourselves into thinking that being a good parent means that our children will not make decisions which are in direct conflict with how they have been raised.</p>
<p>Rainbow, I would not “allow” my almost 19 y.o. college freshman to go on a trip if I didn’t know and feel comfortable with the details of. I trust her judgement completely, but she does not have the benefit of years of travel experience yet. Could she go anyway, since she’s an adult and has her own funds? Of course she could, but she knows what life is like when mama is in anxiety mode!</p>
<p>Our s went on a week long ski trip over winter break. I had hardly any knowledge of this trip except that he was going. We have a couple of non-negotiables… never drink and drive, never go near water (especially swimming in open water) when drinking, stay off of hotel balconies (reserve rooms on lower levels) and any roofs as well. Seems to me if you avoid these things, horrific accidents are less likely to occur. Can I say with certainty that son follows these rules? No. However, after a 18 year old kid fell off a balcony by stacking the two chairs so he could capture a picture of the sunrise with his parents sleeping just inside those doors. His camera was intact and so they found the pictures. Impulsive behavior (like stacking chairs) happens even when sober so it just seems reasonable to think the likelihood of something bad happening when drinking is pretty good.</p>
<p>Horrible.</p>
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<p>Before we hiked down/up the Grand Canyon, I was joking to one of the Park Service employees that I didn’t want to be added to that book about deaths in the canyon (Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon.) She said that a number of the deaths are of [perfectly sober] people who step a bit too far off the trail to get that perfect shot of the canyon (and then they fall.)</p>
<p>D’s high school choral group traveled to Italy (where the drinking age is 18) for a competition. A number of the adult chaperones not only allowed, but also encouraged, the kids to drink–they were pretty lit themselves most evenings. I’m sure none of them gave a thought to the potential liability if any of the kids were to be hurt as a result of their irresponsibility. Something about being away from home, in many cases without spouses, made some normally very rational people lose all good sense. I would be leery of the type of chaperoning likely to occur on a spring break trip.</p>