I was a sort of “clique diplomant” in my youth, getting along just as well with jocks as I did with punks and stoners. I still know many of these people, and in hindsight, I found that what mattered most to their success wasn’t whether they were into drugs in their youth, but how they were raised – the character their parents instilled in them, their very early education (elementary school is more important than you may think), and how involved their parents were in their lives. Some of the most successful people I know partied the hardest, and I know perpetual losers who never touched the stuff. And vice versa, of course.
As scaredy mentioned, in Riverside (including Temecula), the dirty little secret in the high schools is now heroin. In Del Mar and Encinitas, I have no doubt it’s oxy and various forms of prescription speed. You can’t escape it, but you can somewhat influence the friends your kids end up with by keeping them busy and being involved. That doesn’t necessarily mean hovering or locking them up away from the world. And they aren’t doomed if they experiment – but they are doomed if you ignore them while they experiment. I also believe that if they are surrounded by kids with like-minded parents, their chances of success are better even if drugs are more prevalent in a wealthier school.
As for dirty hippies on the street selling pot, I have a better reason for not wanting to live there than just not exposing my kids to it. I don’t personally want to see dirty hippies on the street selling pot. I like my sidewalks scum-free. If my kids want drugs, they’ll have to get them at school, not on my clean, pleasant downtown streets.
