spring break

[monarch64]

So I just saw a news clip on people behaving badly on spring break. My question is, would you let your kids go on spring break, and what were your own experiences with spring breaks?

I remember my parents being very unhappy about me going to FL for mine, my first year of college. I also remember not telling them anything but "I had a great time!" I paid for my share of the trip out of my own paycheck, so I guess at 19 I felt they didn''t have a "say so" in my decision to go. Looking back now, and thinking about the Natalee Hollaway story, I would be pretty hesitant to let my future children go "party" for a week in a foreign or even stateside locale.

 

[Kaleigh]

I went to Ft Lauderdale with 6 college friends. I paid my own way, cost wasn''t much as we split it amongst us. We had a blast. My parents were horrified. My daughter has senior week coming up in a couple of months and we have ruled out those cruises and Carribean trips. Instead she and her best friends are making day trips to NYC, DC and doing other fun things like facials etc... After hearing so many horror stories we are playing it safe. She is fine with it and actually thinks that mixing it up a bit will be fun. Not that they can''t get into trouble in those cities, but these girls have good heads on their shoulders. So I trust them. My daughter has never given me a reason NOT to trust her. Now when she goes to college next year, I''m not sure what she''ll do as far as spring break. But so far she wants to go away with us. Yeah right, haha.

 

[monarch64]

Kaleigh, what a fabulous idea for your daughter to do some fun day trips and a trip to the spa! I wish I''d thought of that when I was her age, lol! IMO, you''re a really great mom for being so creative and making sure she has a good time without going overboard. I know most people come back completely unscathed from these trips (aside from hangovers), but I''ve heard too many horror stories and know firsthand how crazy things can get, not to mention those ridiculous "girls gone wild" infomercials!

When I went to FL, I was with a girlfriend and my two best guy friends, and we went to a city my parents were pretty familiar with, as was I, from family vacations. Still, we had our fair amount of craziness. Things could quickly have gotten out of hand. My sophomore year of college, my roommate and I decided to visit my aunt in Wisconsin--it was a shorter drive, and we had a blast! My aunt and uncle are totally laid back and let us drink under their supervision, took us all kinds of fun places and to the Mall of America! It probably sounds pretty lame to the teenager who''s used to going on family vacations to Belize or St. Maarten or whatever, but we had a great time, and it was much better than my first spring break experience!

 

[pebbles]

I went to Florida my senior year of high school with 3 of my girlfriends. It was not the school sponsored trip (I think that one went to Spain) so we paid for it ourselves. All of us were considered good kids (all in the National Honor Society) and I had never been much of a party girl, so even though my parents were of course worried, I really didn''t give them much need to be concerned.

Something must happen when people go on Spring Break because we did things that we would never do back home. One of my girlfriends was so completely drunk one night that she almost left the bar to go off with two older (college aged) guys that she had just met an hour before. Two of us had enough sense to get her to stay with us only to find out later that night she snuck out of our hotel room with the other girl to go meet them!

My cousin who is a sophomore in college has gone on Spring Break the last couple of years and she said she wouldn''t be surprised if some of her girlfriends showed up in a Girls Gone Wild video.

I feel so bad for Natalee Holloway''s family. She was on a school sponsored trip too. It is so easy when you are out with your friends to have a momentary lapse in judgement, and in her case I think it cost her her life. And she was a very level headed girl too from what I have heard.

When my kids are older, I don''t know what I''ll do. Hubby is saying right now that he won''t let them go. He went on SB himself and apparently was a bit of a partier too. It''s scary to think our kids will be doing what we did at that age!

 

[ammayernyc]

I think it really has to do with the kids themselves. Sure, unfortunately things can happen if they drink too much. But generally, if someone wouldn''t act that way at home, I find it hard to believe that they''re really going to go so completely bonkers on vacation.

I went to Cancun one year and on a cruise another year during college. Both were tons of fun. I drank a lot, partied a lot, sunned a lot and ate a lot. I did not go out and have sex with any random guys or enter a wet t-shirt contest because that''s not who I was (or am). If there is a bunch of friends looking out for one another, I think vacations are a ton of fun.

 

[pebbles]

Date: 3/9/2006 10:12:40 AM
Author: AmandaPanda
I think it really has to do with the kids themselves. Sure, unfortunately things can happen if they drink too much. But generally, if someone wouldn''t act that way at home, I find it hard to believe that they''re really going to go so completely bonkers on vacation.

I went to Cancun one year and on a cruise another year during college. Both were tons of fun. I drank a lot, partied a lot, sunned a lot and ate a lot. I did not go out and have sex with any random guys or enter a wet t-shirt contest because that''s not who I was (or am). If there is a bunch of friends looking out for one another, I think vacations are a ton of fun.

Well, I''m telling you that''s exactly what happened to me. No I didn''t have casual sex with any random guy or enter a wet t-shirt contest, but I never drank at home - probably because I knew I couldn''t lie to my parents, so when I went away on Spring Break - and had no parents to report to - I let loose so to speak.

 

[Caribou]

When I went on Spring Break (1990,

) my mom and aunt drove me and a couple friends to Mrytle Beach, they dropped us off at one hotel and the went to another. At first I really didn''t like the idea of her being there but I ended up (the first day) getting sun poisioning and had another friend take me to their hotel where I spent a couple days. The rest of the weekend was spent hardly moving and blistering because I was burned so bad.

My spring break was not great.

Would I let my daughter go? I don''t know, I would probably be scared but it would really depend on her maturity level. Luckily I don''t have to worry about this as I don''t have kids yet. I do have empathy for those mothers that have to make this decision now. Scary stuff goes on out there.

 

[ammayernyc]

Date: 3/9/2006 11:36:40 AM
Author: pebbles

Date: 3/9/2006 10:12:40 AM
Author: AmandaPanda
I think it really has to do with the kids themselves. Sure, unfortunately things can happen if they drink too much. But generally, if someone wouldn''t act that way at home, I find it hard to believe that they''re really going to go so completely bonkers on vacation.

I went to Cancun one year and on a cruise another year during college. Both were tons of fun. I drank a lot, partied a lot, sunned a lot and ate a lot. I did not go out and have sex with any random guys or enter a wet t-shirt contest because that''s not who I was (or am). If there is a bunch of friends looking out for one another, I think vacations are a ton of fun.

Well, I''m telling you that''s exactly what happened to me. No I didn''t have casual sex with any random guy or enter a wet t-shirt contest, but I never drank at home - probably because I knew I couldn''t lie to my parents, so when I went away on Spring Break - and had no parents to report to - I let loose so to speak.

I think this happens to everyone at some point. A lot of my friends had the same experiences when they first got to college. It''s the being away from parents thing.
I''m sorry if anything unfortunate happened to you. I certainly don''t blame someone if they drink too much and something bad happens. I think it''s horrible.

 

[princessv]

I had one ''wild'' Spring Break I guess..really not that wild now that I think about it compared to what some people do. Yes, I did drink a whole lot but it was more from being away from parents..just imagine my mom''s worry when I came home and was trying to keep souvenirs of empty bottles of Crown, vodka, etc.

She took them all away from me and threw them all away because I wasn''t ''supposed to have open containers'' in the trunk of my car. Heck they were all EMPTY! LOL Anyway, after that she was all freaked that I was turning into a big binge drinker and what not (my mom tends to overreact ALOT) but the reality was all those empty bottles were from 8 people myself included!

Anyway my Spring Break is next week and I am going to spend it holed up at my parent''s place with my fuzzy puppy writing my upper level requirement and preparing for exams.

What fun right? Sometimes I wish I was back in college again LOL