Field Trips in HS

[Anonymous]

It seems like there are some fun trips that kids take in HS for certain classes. It doesn't seem to be of any real educational value, but I can see the excitement in taking a few days off of school and cram 4 classmates into a hotel room. These trips aren't cheap either, costing over $1000.

The last time DS took a field trip was in MS. It was a multi-day field trip, she barely slept those days because it was just so much fun to be with friends (and be parent-free). They were also supposed to "do homework" but that really never panned out. I don't blame them. It took her a good 2 weeks to bounce back to normal and get caught up in school again.

Fast forward to this year entering HS, and she told me there is another multi-day field trip. We looked at the itinerary and it looks like a fun escape but really of zero educational value. I wouldn't mind for her to go, but she's still trying to adjust to HS life, balancing a sport, and all of her activities. This trip won't happen until next year, but we are asked to put down a deposit and make a commitment now. She admits that it will be impossible to do any work in the handful of days that she is gone, plus likely it will be hard to sleep with multiple kids crammed into a room. Realistically, it will likely take some time just to recover from sleep and be caught up with schoolwork. She's asking my advice on what she should do, and I don't know how to respond.

One part of me wants her to go and just have fun and make great memories. The other part of me remembers how miserable it was last time she came home. Then of course some classmates got covid from the trip. She's a decent student but not the most organized. I would hate to see her grades suffer from something like this. What would you advise?

[Anonymous]

Dc has never had a field trip in high school. What class is this for?

[Anonymous]

This sounds like one of the magnet programs. General high school (or MS) classes don’t have multi-day field trips. Of course they don’t do work on the trip, and of course they get behind. But they also have a lot of fun together and learn other life lessons from such a trip. I’d let your daughter decide and learn to live with the consequences.

[Anonymous]

My 9th grader’s band (and the orchestra and choir from the school) is planning a trip to Disneyworld in the spring, doing one of the Disney music programs (workshops/performances), which basically sounds like an educational excuse to go have some fun. They will miss two days of school. And I am absolutely letting my kid go and hoping they have fun (and don’t fall behind too much on work). My kid missed outdoor Ed and also the big magnet MS trip in the past few years due to COVID restrictions, and i think this is totally worth it.

[Anonymous]

There weren't many for my DC (class of '22), but definitely a couple. Covid certainly impacted this.

The primary one I remember is that DC had a field trip for American Gov't class to Philadelphia. It was maybe a 10-12 hour total trip. I don't remember the cost, but I'll guess $100. The value was minimal, at best, but DC wanted to go for "the fun" part (i.e., not being in school). DC had been to all the sites they were seeing previously.

[Anonymous]

We don't mind one or even two day trips. Those are fun given most of these trip have little educational benefits. But our experience with multiple-day trips are that:

Kids are crammed into close quarters like a quad occupancy. DC last reported that roommates cranked up the TV with questionable shows and watch them all night. Some of the boys don't want to share beds with other boys, so they either sleep on the hotel floor or even the bathtubs for a few days.

If you want to catch up on work, it's just impossible with activities or something going on all the time. On the bus ride back, some kids sleep and others just play video games or watch more shows the entire time. Again, not really conducive to doing school work when they are gone 4 or 5 days in a row. Then coming back, everyone is just exhausted and sleep deprived, assuming no one caught covid or the flu or whatever else is going around.

I think when my kids were older teens with a better grasp on managing their schedule, a trip like this would be fun and worthwhile. But if they are getting ready for spring sports or struggling with managing their time as a freshman, it's probably not worth the stress at this time. It's never a once in a lifetime opportunity because it seems like there are trips available every year. Now, if they had a summer get-away to another country, I'd encourage DC to sign up for that!

[Anonymous]

Many of the high schools do band/choral trips to Disney. They have a ton of fun, but there really is no educational value. We let each of our kids go on one trip during HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many of the high schools do band/choral trips to Disney. They have a ton of fun, but there really is no educational value. We let each of our kids go on one trip during HS.

So they don't get to go every year? If they go freshman year, that's it?

Seems like a good idea actually. To let them choose when they want to go in their 4 years of HS. I don't want to be shelling out $1200+ every year.