Granite Bay.

  
Most consider it a fairly tight-knit community. People talk. A lot. Gossip plays a pretty substantial part in the daily lives of the citizens of Granite Bay.

  
Gossip is not just unique to the students of the high school. The parents are just as bad.

  
Everybody is guilty of whispering something to a friend, or just “passing along” information. But if everybody knows everything, then why does nobody do anything?

  
As a student at Granite Bay High School, I hear the cliché stories. Who got drunk last weekend? He smoked how much weed? All the “he said, she said” business. It’s not uncommon.

  
If everything is so talked about, then how is that no one ever seems to do anything about it?

  
We all know that parents talk about us, and they not-so-silently judge the parents of whichever student did whatever drug. When the reality is, their child was probably standing right next to the perpetrator.

  
Instead of gossiping, maybe parents should actually tell the parent of the student who is making bad choices. If their child is so “screwed up,” why doesn’t anybody sit them down and tell them?

  
People should try taking advantage of the fact that we live in a community where everyone knows everyone else. Instead of judging and speculating and talking about others, maybe people should use the community’s closeness as a tool to keep a sharper eye on “irresponsible” students.

 
It’s hard to believe parents hear nothing. The issue is that they turn a blind eye. Nobody can believe their precious angel railed ecstasy at a party. Nobody can face sitting down their child and asking them face to face what happened.

  
The lackadaisical parents in Granite Bay are sending their children the message that what they are doing is OK.

  
Maybe the students are irresponsible. Maybe what people say about them is true. But maybe it’s because nobody taught them responsibility.

  
Nobody told them what happens when they screw up. Maybe nobody ever told them that it’s OK to mess up a couple of times, but that they should learn a lesson and avoid bigger, life-changing mistakes.

  
We all laugh at those above-the-influence commercials. Or the ones that emphasize that parents shouldn’t  be afraid to talk about sex with their child.

  
They are completely right, though.

 
A lot of parents justify this by saying, “Well, my child doesn’t do drugs,” or “My child would never drink illegally.” And they could be completely right.

  
But what about their daughter’s friend who does do all these things? Maybe by talking, they give their child the ability to pass that wisdom along.

  
Kids talk and kids listen. So parents, don’t be afraid to discuss the consequences of drugs. Don’t be afraid to have substantial conversations with your child.

  
Granite Bay is often considered to be a superficial place, where emphasis is placed on material goods. But we are full of very real people, with very real problems.

  
This reputation is partly caused by our lack of ability to acknowledge anything wrong. We ignore any actual problems and hope they will solve themselves.

  
But they won’t.

At least not until parents begin having real conversations with their teenage children about the real challenges of growing.