[ferret111]

Originally Posted by Pear Martini

Normal people..yes, but if you want your children to have opportunities on a world class level while attending public schools, Florida is not the right place for you.


I'm not saying there aren't "normal people" in Florida, but if you want your child to have the most opportunities to flourish creativity, intellectually, with exposure to well-educated people from diverse backgrounds, where being unique/different than the masses is a plus and not a minus, where superficial things are frowned upon etc. you may want to live in a liberal area with quality schools and safe neighborhoods/not Florida.

Well I wonder what went wrong with me, then, since I went from K-12 in Tampa and turned out all right, and with no criminal record to boot!

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by ferret111

Well I wonder what went wrong with me, then, since I went from K-12 in Tampa and turned out all right, and with no criminal record to boot!

You and me both, Ferret!

[num1baby]

Originally Posted by ferret111

Well I wonder what went wrong with me, then, since I went from K-12 in Tampa and turned out all right, and with no criminal record to boot!

I went K-12 in Palm Harbor and actually seem to have a better education than many of my co-workers who went to school "up North". I have no criminal record and don't even take aspirin, much less illegal drugs. I am really thinking of dumbing myself down some and getting a drug problem so that I can be a typical Floridian. Even though I don't know anyone with a drug problem, and am not friends with people with criminal records, I am sure that more than half of the population of the entire state is this way.

By the way, I was shocked that someone would let our dirty little secret about the sex industry, pill clinics being so popular, and intellect not being valued. I don't even have a response to that because it is so far beyond ridiculous, I don't know where to start.

Anyways, I would not take advise from someone who paints the entire state with one broad brush.

Ferret & Gypsy, Maybe we can go and get criminal records together. I really do want to fit in.

[Pear Martini]

I'm speaking of the people in their 20's that I have met down here, not of your group.

[num1baby]

Originally Posted by Pear Martini

I'm speaking of the people in their 20's that I have met down here, not of your group.

I just recently moved out of my 20's. The typical Floridian I know is very similar to me. I was married at 22. Bought my first house at 24 (I was the last in my group to buy a house). Had a baby at 25. Graduated college. No criminal record. I go to work every day. I pay my bills. I spend time with my family. I can say pretty much the same thing about all of my friends and family. I would just have to adjust ages up or down a year.

Just curious, what group did you think I was? I am in my early 30s, so it wasn't that long ago that I was in my 20s. I just showed you what I have seen as a normal life for someone in their 20s in Florida. I personally wouldn't even know where to look to find the people that you describe. Since I am so recently out of my 20s, I still know a lot of people in their 20s and none of them are the way you describe.

Please stop trying to make it look like the entire state is like a small group of people that you have met. It is insulting and untrue to try to paint us all the same way.

[ferret111]

Originally Posted by Pear Martini

I'm speaking of the people in their 20's that I have met down here, not of your group.

You don't even know how old I am.

[Pear Martini]

Originally Posted by num1baby

I just recently moved out of my 20's. The typical Floridian I know is very similar to me. I was married at 22. Bought my first house at 24 (I was the last in my group to buy a house). Had a baby at 25. Graduated college. No criminal record. I go to work every day. I pay my bills. I spend time with my family. I can say pretty much the same thing about all of my friends and family. I would just have to adjust ages up or down a year.

Just curious, what group did you think I was? I am in my early 30s, so it wasn't that long ago that I was in my 20s. I just showed you what I have seen as a normal life for someone in their 20s in Florida. I personally wouldn't even know where to look to find the people that you describe. Since I am so recently out of my 20s, I still know a lot of people in their 20s and none of them are the way you describe.

Please stop trying to make it look like the entire state is like a small group of people that you have met. It is insulting and untrue to try to paint us all the same way.

I apologize. I'm just thinking of the people I have met around my age (22) who grew up in Ft. Lauderdale. I do not think if you were born and raised in Florida, you are destined to become a drug addict or a criminal. Not at all, most people from other parts of FL seem very down to earth. I'm just saying, I think South Florida isn't a great place to raise kids, IMO. There have been great people brought up here, but it can put your kid at a disadvantage say if they are competing to get into a university out of state and competing with kids who lived in towns with far superior school systems.

Down here you will actually meet people in their 20s who live at home with mom and dad and spend their bartending money on boob jobs and BMWs. I know people like this. You will never meet anyone like this out of South Florida. I wan't to raise my kids with a book on the table and teach them that being different is good, and superficial things are not special. After all, nothing superficial ever brought anyone lasting happiness.

[num1baby]

Originally Posted by Pear Martini

I wan't to raise my kids with a book on the table and teach them that being different is good, and superficial things are not special. After all, nothing superficial ever brought anyone lasting happiness.

This comes down to parenting. Not where you live. I am teaching my child the same things. This in not a Florida thing. The kind of kids you describe could be in any state.

[Davachka]

People become defensive when standing up for an area that they were raised, and of course in any place there are all types of people in the world. There are many people who were raised here and do not fit the stereotype and became educated, successful individuals.

But when moving here from another region, certain things are most certainly obvious.

On a recent evaluation of the countries middle schools, Florida ranked 39th, essentially making it in the bottom 20% in the country. Not good. The education system here is blatantly lagging behind the rest of the country.

There is also an obvious prescription pill abuse problem here along with other drugs as well. The US Attorney recently stated that FL prescribes 10 times more oxycodone than the rest of the country COMBINED. Much if not most is illegetimate as is obvious with all the clinic drug raids.

I don't know anything regarding the sex trade thank god, but education and pill mills I have seen first hand and they are both a huge problem in this state. That being said, I am sure there are areas where this is less of a problem, and thorough research should be done before choosing an area.

Originally Posted by Pear Martini

As a woman who has lived here from the age of 17-22, I wouldn't want to raise a school-aged child in Florida.

More than half of the people in their 20s I have met who were raised down here used to have drug problems and are not the most intellectual of folk.

In a state where one of the biggest industries is the sex industry, pill clinics are popular, and intellect isn't valued, HELL NO!

I understand that many people were raised here I don't want to offend anyone, but Florida is just not a good place to raise kids.

Maybe up until the age of 7 or 8, but once you pass that move to a more liberal state that has good schools on a national level not on the Florida level.

[brinkofsunshine]

Originally Posted by Pear Martini

Normal people..yes, but if you want your children to have opportunities on a world class level while attending public schools, Florida is not the right place for you.


I'm not saying there aren't "normal people" in Florida, but if you want your child to have the most opportunities to flourish creativity, intellectually, with exposure to well-educated people from diverse backgrounds, where being unique/different than the masses is a plus and not a minus, where superficial things are frowned upon etc. you may want to live in a liberal area with quality schools and safe neighborhoods/not Florida.

How can you blanket an entire state of schools with a statement like that?.. I attended a public Orlando high school where every four years the theater program goes on a two week field trip to Scotland to perform in the world-renown Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Other field trips offered were week-long college tours in Boston and New York. I was fortunate to go on all three field trips during my HS years.