[citizen_jane]

Hey I wanted to show some support for your conclusion/decision as well. I'm older than you (40-ish) and I also grew up in the area. I went to Indialantic El, Hoover and Mel-hi. My husband also went to Mel-hi and we couldn't get out fast enough. His sister and brother still live there and they paint the same picture you so. We ended up in Houston and we've also lived in San Jose California. I love the Houston area, big house, low COL, good schools (kids going into 9th and 6th). My husband works at HP and has a 5 min commute. It's been great.

[somewherenew]

I have to agree. I just graduated from Mel High in 2006, and the drug problem is bad. I remember in one of my classes that one person was busted because he had some coke. I feel bad for my younger sister. She is about to go to Hoover, and sadly it is still drug infested.

[Beach babe]

I am considering relocating to Melbourne (Lake Washington) and hope someone can give me some insight to the area. I believe Eau Gallie High School would be the nearest High School for my son. Does anyone know about "The Willows" off Clydesdale Road or maybe Summer Lakes in Viera?

[NativeCutie]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think drugs are fairly prevalent all around FL because we're a point of entry state. In smaller towns the drug trade may be fairly well concealed -- unless you're from there.

In an earlier post someone suggested Stuart & Martin County. I'm just a couple years older than you and grew up in Stuart, and I'd tell you that it was just the same there as you described Melbourne. Stuart seems quiet & probably has a low crime rate, but there is definitely a drug trade that carries over into the school system. It seems like even some of the "good kids" do drugs. Most of us couldn't wait to get out, and most of those that have remained are involved in drugs or have spent at least a night in jail.

Now, I'm not a parent, so feel free to disregard my opinion. But it seems to me that parents are afraid of bigger cities where drugs seem to be more prevalent, and prefer smaller towns that end up offering so little for kids that there's nothing to do BUT get into trouble. I felt that way growing up in Stuart. Maybe the important thing is how family-friendly a place is, what activities they offer for children that will keep them OUT of trouble -- and sometimes I think that means a bigger city. Just my two cents.

[christopher1936]

Am i right in theinking there's a melbourne in australia too?! x

[Florida15]

Yes,there's definitely a Melbourne in Australia!

[citizen_jane]

My brother-in-law (who still lives in Melbourne) has a theory that the southern counties were raiding and shutting down meth labs causing the "problem" to move north. As to the idea that bigger cities have more problems, I don't know. We live in a suburb of Houston and my kids haven't had any where near the exposure to drugs that I had in Indialantic. We had kids getting suspended in elementary for bringing pot to school. My first personal exposure, 7th grade at Hoover and an 9th grader tried to sell me Valium at school!

[Mr. SlowFlow]

wow, i thought melbourne was on of the safer, better cities along the coast in central fla. i guess not.

[compelled to reply]

Maybe you shouldn't believe everything that you read. Also, if you can find a high school without drugs, show it to me. Precious reality is learning to decipher good from bad, not isolating the bad and then living in a cave for the rest of your life.

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by compelled to reply

Maybe you shouldn't believe everything that you read. Also, if you can find a high school without drugs, show it to me. Precious reality is learning to decipher good from bad, not isolating the bad and then living in a cave for the rest of your life.

Yes, thats right about the drugs. I do think there's a ring of truth to the drug issues that people mention, but it's the parent's job to really commit to addressing it, you can't get away from it. In childhood or adulthood you're going to meet various forms of users, partiers and deadbeats. I believe it's a much more valuable tool to enable your young kid to be of strong personality and identity over avoidance. Also, it's easier to teach an 8 year old than a 16 year old and easier for them to recover from their bad choices which you HAVE to let them make choices (or think they are) as young as possible and pay the consequences.

Our high school in Upper Makefield (the gold coast of Bucks County Pa outside of Philly) was called Heroin High back in the mid 90's. Kids from urban Trenton came over daily to buy. Lots of money in the school created lots of entrepreneurs there lol. In 7th grade in the early 90's a kid brought a bong on the school bus. In high school a friend in the neighborhood was robbing the hockey teams and it turns out he was a heroin addict and so was the father. We had no idea. In the 60's in my private boarding school we had drug problems and all the kids that were wealthy with money to throw away and commensurate mental problems LOL. Hence the boarding school disposal of them by their parents.

I don't doubt that it's hard in a small town because the density is low. So if the posters are stuck in a small school with alot of high risk kids, like having a bad catchment area that goes to that school...it makes sense to leave if the kid can't find "normal" friends.

The solution IS to live where there is a large diverse population of kids for your kids to pick from, and keep them BUSY from childhood, sports teams, hobbies, family activites etc. And know what's going on. Never let your kid randomly pick friends and go over to people's homes without knowing the families. And become the house where the kids want to be. Establish a circle of families with like values and have weekend parties and bbq etc, with the entire families. That's what we did to live in our own extended cave and none of our 8 families or so we were close with have drug using kids thank God. The closest is MY angel son who went ape in the dorms with the drinking parties when he got out of state, and I put a stop to that real quick. Being forced to eat on campus and having very little disposable cash has a way of doing that LOL. And of course, ALWAYS become good friends with the son's girlfriends who can't WAIT to rat your kid out with all their complaints about them ha ha.