Emily~ ouch! I'm not saying these things are no big deal. I'm not saying it's "normal". What's "normal"? I'm just talking about reality. I hope my kids do better than me. I'm just being realistic in saying these things happen and most of us survive. There's a huge world out there, where socially and culturally, different things are expected/accepted/tolerated/ admonishable. I was from a middle-class family and my father came from nothing to give me what I had. He loved(s) me very much. He did his VERY BEST to teach me right from wrong.....that doesn't mean I listened. After all my partying was done, I straightened out and everything my father tried to teach me fell into place. I work hard-I own/run two buisnesses. I havn't gotten "drunk" in years, I havn't touched pot since I was 18 and I've never done any other drug(well aside from the crazy stuff they gave me post-surgery) I mean, when it comes to teens, you can't always place ALL the blame on the parents, or society, or lack of religion or laws or anything. Some are just more rebellious than others. At least that's what I believe.

I got excellent grades, took AP classes and did sports. I went on to college. When I needed it, my parents paid for a tudor. They paid for college. Didn't help me not do things I shouldn't have done.

I certainly don't have any "venom" for folks who achieve, quite the opposite. I actually don't have any "venom" for anybody. Everyone takes different roads and different paths to get where they are going. I think that if I hadn't been a teen who partied I wouldn't have appreciated a straight, mature life. That's just me. I think that is what I needed to be who I became. I'm the kind of person who needed to make mistakes for myself and be hard headed. I could have been much worse. But I'll tell you one thing: It's a good thing that my father had grown up in the post 60's drug years and did the stupid things he did when he was growing up. Beause he could recognize what I was doing. I'll never forget the night he said "are you drunk?" I lied and said "no." He knew I was, and he told me so, he also said he knew exactly what was I was out doing and informed me that anything I had ever done or thought of doing-he had already done, so there's no point in lying. It really affected me-for the better. And darn skippy I got grounded. But still, I was rebellious

Not sure why I am feeling the need to put all this out. Just saying that while there is a lot of bad stuff out there, there's a lot of harsh judgement, too

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