The kids in these MD and VA towns are typically bused to school with their stop situated on a two-lane country road.
Rural America is a shitty place to raise kids. Older “streetcar suburbs” and small towns are much better in this respect.[/quote]I tend to agree with you. I remember the Manhattan mom (can’t remember her name, though) who put her nine-year-old? son on the subway by himself and I believe he even had to make a transfer to get home. She was accused of child neglect (I think CPS investigated), even though the kid knew how to safely negotiate the subway and all the people on it just fine. IIRC, she was one of the founders or early adopters of the concept of “free range kids.” Had this happened back in “my day,” no one would have cared or reported the incident.
I personally believe that kids do better in life when they are forced to learn the ins and outs of their home turf at a young age … that is, provided their “home turf” is relatively safe.
The parents who move their kids to the exurban countryside (outside Wash DC) are obviously seeking to raise them in a “bubble.” It isn’t foolproof because many of these kids undoubtedly grow up with a sense of entitlement and can’t “envision” themselves living in anything less than the (expansive) family home they grew up in. Also, some of them are unable to assimilate and conduct themselves properly after accepting admission a large public university.
Small towns are good because they have a diverse group of longtime residents of all ages in them who hang out in public during the day and watch out for local kids walking in and out of stores alone, etc.
It helps that everyone pretty much knows everyone else i most of these towns.
I still think most of the public HS’s in suburban/exurban Wash DC are excellent for college prep. I’m assuming the reason is because all the high-level Federal Gov’t employees and contractors buying residences in these areas have always demanded high performance in their public schools … and received it.
