Thursday, 29 March 2007
Beth: Because Florida is so 1997
Since when did spring break become a time for teens to make huge, elaborate trips to exotic locations?
We've had a few high school interns at work over the year. For this year's spring break, one is going to St. Maarten and one is going to Jamaica. The third is mad because she's "only" going to Florida. Because - apparently - the majority of her classmates are traveling to similar exotic destinations.
"Only?" Only? Are kids today so coddled that traveling to tropical locations is expected, rather than something special? Visiting destinations like St. Maarten and Jamaica should be a significant, unique thing, a privilege - something that people only get to experience for a honeymoon or special trip or something. Save something for when they're adults! Not to mention, no one's going to want to hang around Jamaica when it's overrun with horny teenagers.
When I was in high school, the big thing to do for spring break was to go down to Florida or Gulf Shores with your family for the week. If you were lucky (depending on how important it was to be accepted by the popular kids). I can't think of anyone I knew that traveled out of the country.
And...somehow this has turned into a "when I was your age" rant. Good grief, I'm not that old.
One more thing: One of our interns left for spring break on Wednesday evening. High school spring breaks don't start until next Monday. And she's not returning until the Tuesday following that week. That's right. She's missing four full days of school ON TOP OF the regularly-scheduled spring break. And people wonder why kids these days don't have respect for authority. It's because parents are teaching them that you don't have to do what people or school schedules say IF YOU DON'T WANT TO.
What other people had to say
Julie wrote:
I actually remember the 'only Florida' thing from when we were in high school. And going with just the family and not a group of friends was pretty uncool as well. I also remember people missing extra days of school for those exotic trips back in middle school.
Maybe things haven't changed that much?
Erin wrote:
Here, people take off for California and do the same thing, missing three, four, five days of school.
I think I only knew a few people who actually went on spring break trips in high school. We considered ourselves lucky if mom took one day off of work and we could go an hour away shopping.
Cathy wrote:
When I was in high school, spring break was about catching up on sleep!
My sister is student teaching now and expresses shock about 12-year-old girls with $200 Coach purses.
Bryan H. Bell wrote:
Long ago, David Letterman said:
You know you're getting old when you find yourself using the phrase "kids these days."
Bryan H. Bell wrote:
One more snarky comment:
no one's going to want to hang around Jamaica when it's overrun with horny teenagers
On the contrary, I think lots of people (but not me!) are going to want to hang around Jamaica when its overrun with horny teenagers.
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