Camden-Rockport High school? (Columbia: condos, home, buy)

[wklingel]

Any comments on the Camden - Rockport high school? We are moving to the area with a 15 yr old daughter and 13 yr old son. We had heard something about a number of suicides in the hs population. Also, any serious (unusual) drug or alcohol problems at the school? Academics (and faculty) challenging or soft? General mood of the school and community? Thanks for any advice.

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by wklingel

Any comments on the Camden - Rockport high school? We are moving to the area with a 15 yr old daughter and 13 yr old son. We had heard something about a number of suicides in the hs population. Also, any serious (unusual) drug or alcohol problems at the school? Academics (and faculty) challenging or soft? General mood of the school and community? Thanks for any advice.

Here's an interesting blog article about Camden and teenage suicide:

The Copycat Effect: Peyton Place: A Contagion Model (http://copycateffect.blogspot.com/2006/09/peyton-place-contagion-model.html - broken link)

[mollysmiles]

I wish I could help--good luck though!

[camdenkid]

I graduated from Camden Hills the public high school for area Camden. I can tell you that academically you won’t find another school in the area like it. From my class alone we had kids attend Ivy League schools and some others that are pretty high up there. On top of strong academics, the fine arts program is one of the highest funded in the state. The school is also less than ten years old and everything in the building is near state of the art.
I would recommend sending your kids there as I knew people who attended other private schools/got home schooled in the area and were behind academically.
On the other side there was indeed a rash of suicides around the time that I was there. The last one to my knowledge occurred in 2005. The staff works very hard to help kids who are in need of counseling. There is also a committee designed to specifically combat suicide and get help to those who are contemplating it. The group also works to educate kids about the warning signs and where to find help for friends.
I will also leave you with a warning. The social scene of the school is very unique. Instead of your typical cliques you have a completely different structure. The one that existed while I was there was completely based on social class. If you didn’t have enough money to go off skiing in the mountains for the weekend or fly down to the tropics for some relaxation you were excluded from many social circles. The student parking lot also looks like a foreign luxury car dealership. Simply put the more materials you have, the more popular you will be.
The kids there also have obscene spending capabilities making strong drugs/alcohol VERY common. There is A LOT of substance abuse from the least popular kids all the way up to the National Honors society. This is not a unique problem though; if you look at any area with above average income you will find more substance abuse within the teen population.
All in all if your kids are smart about drugs and who they associate with they will have a good time, you won’t get a better education in the area.

[Zymer]

"Obscene" spending capability has little to do with drug/alcohol availability. Where I grew up was not wealthy, but many drugs were easily available- LSD, PCP ("Special K" now the popular replacement), Mescaline (Peyote), Speed, Hash, Coke and of course, many varieties of marijuana (Columbian Gold was $40/oz). Booze was even easier, a case of Miller was about $4, with a sixer thrown in for whoever bought for you.

"The kids there also have obscene spending capabilities making strong drugs/alcohol VERY common. There is A LOT of substance abuse from the least popular kids all the way up to the National Honors society. This is not a unique problem though; if you look at any area with above average income you will find more substance abuse within the teen population."

"Substance abuse" is equally popular with low and average income populations, they just pay less for it. "Rich kids" pay a premium because the dealers figure they can afford it, and they don't quibble about the price.

[maine4.us]

I don' necessarily think that income has that much to do with drug use in teenagers, but the ones with the most money can certainly buy more drugs that the lower income teens. The lower income teens do make up for their income by criminal activities though. I have worked with teenagers for 35 years, and I do see a correlation between income and substance abuse, but not for the reason you might think. To generate the high income, both parents usually work in high paying demanding jobs. Those jobs don't end at 5pm, there are meetings that are out of town, social "must attend" gatherings, and such. The parents often just shell out $$ to keep the kids happy, out of guilt for not spending more time with them. That is what makes the "preps" as we call them here stand out from the rest. Parental contact is the key. If you are out making mega bucks, you aren't home with your children. Children, like adults, who have no supervision tend to get have issues. I know of a school like camdenkid described. It is located near the Ocean and the community famous for the TPC golf tournament. The student parking lot does resemble a BMW-ACURA-MERCEDES-HUMMER dealership. Now since the parent leave their children on their own a lot, many bad traits surface and are nurtured by their peers. I know of teens whose parents rented beachfront condos for a week of senior partying. I mean the old 60's stuff.....sex, drugs and rock and roll. Drugs in the 40'-50's were largely an inner city thing, but now the urbs have the problem. It has spread to the rural areas as well. Think about it, what is there to do in Maine in winter if you aren't an outdoor type? We have a teacher at our school who moved from downeast Maine to Florida. I asked him what did the Mainer's do in the winter. He replied, watch movies on TV, invite friends over, and drink. When we go out, we go out to meet friends and party, especially if live music is available. So, what do you expect the kids to do? Maine doesn't have a monopoly on drugs and teen behavior. It is present everywhere, but the high income children do tend to party harder and with plenty of cash. After all, who isn't familiar with Allen's Coffee flavored brandy? Down here in Florida, its always Margaritaville! We even have a local beer named Landshark, brewed of course by Margaritaville Brewing Co., and of course Mr. Buffet is a large stockholder. So, what do we expect our high school age kids to do? Sorry if I sound a bit sarcastic, but many of the teens I talk to are in dire need of just that, someone to talk to. Someone who will take the time to listen.

[Mainer61]

My daughter graduated from Camden Rockport last year after spending her entire school career in the Camden system. It was excellent. Academically it was great. Sure, there are the kids with money and snobs, but that's everywhere. She had excellent teachers throughout the grades and they all were approachable. The administration lacks something, for sure, but the teachers are good.