Re: Fairfax High Schools are a DISASTER. So glad my kids go to HS in Arlington!
Posted by:
TMKXV
()
Date: December 27, 2017 08:11PM
I grew up in Arlington, went to Yorktown (was in walking distance) and graduated in the early 80's. I remember vividly all the cigarette and pot smoking as well as a lot of alcohol in the late 70's and early 80's at Yorktown. Drinking age back then for beer was still 18. I can remember vividly in my 7:15 am Senior English class kids in the back of the class snorting Cocaine first thing in the morning. I remember looking back at these clowns and just thinking like are you freaking kidding me. Where is this crew heading in life?
I went through Elementary, Jr. High and High School in Arlington. No illegals in those days, but we had a bunch of the black kids from Halls Hill near Lee Highway and George Mason Drive and a bunch of black kids bused in from Green Valley in South Arlington near 4 Mile Run and 395. The Green Valley kids were very close to Wakefield and should have gone there. They were mostly problems, they did not want to be there and they added NO value to my upbringing. The majority of these black kids were disorderly, trouble makers and as racist as the day was long. There were very few black kids that were generally decent human beings that you would want to associate with.
To this day this is one of the reasons I trust very few black people. Call me Racist, but this liberal social experiment is what made me dislike black people. Arlington is so freaking Liberal and they have always had these half cocked social ideas and experiments. If you live in Arlington, you want to live in North Arlington and be within the Yorktown District, nothing less. While I would consider the Washington & Lee District borderline, I would not even in the least consider the Wakefield District under any circumstances and it was no different over 30 years ago.
I left the area for a while and when I decided to return, I decided to say NO THANKS to Arlington for many reasons. I moved to Fairfax and while it has its challenges, where I moved near the Tysons area, I have no regrets. It was a very calculated decision based on both my part and my wife's part. My wife went through 13 years of FCPS so we both had a very good understanding of the area and what were were getting into.
Both of our kids went through FCPS and have graduated with what I would consider very good primary educations. Both went on to very good Universities and have very promising futures. Again, there are clearly areas in Fairfax County I would not not want live much less send my kids to school in these area. You have to have your finger of the pulse of any area you live as well as the school District you are going to have kids in.
So for the OP to state they think they know what is going on inside FCPS based on posts here on FFU or within the local news, there are probably very similar issues in Arlington, its just that Fairfax is so much larger with so many more schools there are far more opportunities for sensational news stories, for staff and students to do stupid things and make really bad decisions. It really boils down to how you educated your kids and what kind of guidance they receive from "You", the parent.
I an sure my kids were surrounded by alcohol, drugs, theft, gangs, weapons and so forth, but I brought up my kids to be aware of their surroundings, stay away from trouble kids, stay away from the drugs an if and when alcohol was available to use good judgement, do not over indulge and be smart about their decisions. I had a hard time clamping down too hard on the alcohol because while I was in high school the drinking age for beer was 18, we used to go to DC and I recall the drinking age was 18 and if it wasn't we were in all the bars drinking anyway.
The sad part is kids cannot be kids these days, too many bigger picture consequences, too many stupid hard drugs, too many kids over dosing, too many illegals and gangs and people that will not think twice about taking a machete to cut up someone.
Every area has its challenges and I cannot say 100% Arlington is so much better off than many of the FCPS schools. Sure there are far more FCPS locations I would not have our kids attend, I have no regrets on the education our kids received at FCPS schools. At the end of the day it is all about what you and your kids take away from the experience and how to keep the kids heading in the proper direction regardless where they attend school. Starting with a good school District and foundation is critical.