Laguna Beach For Real

Kudos to Laguna Beach High School for beating out every other high school in Orange County in the one arena that really matters: alcohol and drug abuse. A California Healthy Families survey claims that LBHS juniors score highest count-wide at getting high (at least, on marijuana and alcohol). Parents were quick to blame MTV, but the music television station is only guilty of failing to televise music. Still, their reality show (Laguna Beach: The Real OC) does present a certain juvenile lifestyle of the rich and fatuous. But here in Orange County we've been used to dealing with drunk rich kids on video ever since the Haidl Three raised their degenerate heads.

R. Scott Moxley pointed out that the Haidl Three, convicted rapists, only had their fathers to blame. In Laguna's case, whose fault is it really? Can a finger be pointed at anyone? Should it? To try and find out, we tracked down a real Laguna Beach High student. She was too high to remember her name. Or was it his name? Either way, s/he's not too thrilled with the show or the survey, but only because of the truths they reveal.

My opinion is that from the limited amount of episodes i have seen (less than 10), I would have to say that it [The Real OC] is pretty accurate. I mean, the romance shit I'm sure is faked half the time. But we get fucked up more than any other high school I know.

The kids who are bitches on the show are bitches in real life. Kids like Chase, who i used to be friends with, are actually nice people. But he just went on the show to promote his band--because, ya know, it's like free publicity.

Just to be a jerk, I've often been tempted to anonymously post the cast's addresses and phone numbers online. Let the papparazzi come in; show 'em fame isn't all it's cracked up to be, ya know? It's quite mean, but hey.

I really don't like it when all these people want to be famous but don't realize some of the less talked-about consequences; like being stalked. It's frustrating from time to time.

MTV's a scapegoat. If the parents really cared, then they just wouldn't let their kids go out with the MTV kids. But in all seriousness that's impossible. And even if the parents did succeed at preventing it, the second the kids get into college they're gonna OD on alch.

MTV isn't just affecting our [OC] kids. It's affecting those kids in Ohio that want to be just like us. They're getting the skewed image as well. We might feel like we have to fit into the image more, but i feel that the Ohioans feel forced to be 'cool' the way MTV says to be cool.