Chaperoning a trip to Hershey Park

[Anonymous]

My son is in 5th grade and he is 10. He won't be 11 until July. I am not a helicopter parent but I wouldn't want him set loose in a theme park at that age. I am a teacher and some years u chaperone the 8th grade trip to Six Flags. I remember my own 8th grade trip to HP. We have the kids check in with us every two hours. All of the kids have to physically meet us somewhere predetermined. By 8th grade, almost all of them have cell phones. We meet towards the end of the trip at the water park where we can supervise them in the water. Some teachers get in and keep an eye on the kids. Some of them can't swim. The other teachers babysit the electronics and bags etc. I'm surprised the OP's child's school hadn't gone over protocols with chaperones. We don't allow patent chaperones on this trip. In many cases, they are more immature than the kids.

[Anonymous]

Sorry. Parent chaperones is what I meant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most 5th grade boys are either 11 and some even 12yrs old.

Even still, a group of 10yr olds can navigate an amusement park. That is what maps and employees are for.

If an 8yr old can be a latchkey kid, than a group 2-3yrs older can be on there own for short amount of times with meet-up areas in a park. What do you all think will happen? They will get grabbed and thrown in a bathroom and raped? By this age I was gone all day in the woods, baseball field, park, playing games in the street and bicycling for miles. I bet you all were too. And your parents had no clue where you were as long as you were home for dinner.

You all seriously need to give your kids some breathing room to LEARN to be on their own, navigate, use common sense and acquire some street smarts.

Following their every move with water, snacks, and first aid kits is insane. Sorry. Time to stop hovering.

In what country are fifth graders 12 unless they failed a grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most 5th grade boys are either 11 and some even 12yrs old.

Even still, a group of 10yr olds can navigate an amusement park. That is what maps and employees are for.

If an 8yr old can be a latchkey kid, than a group 2-3yrs older can be on there own for short amount of times with meet-up areas in a park. What do you all think will happen? They will get grabbed and thrown in a bathroom and raped? By this age I was gone all day in the woods, baseball field, park, playing games in the street and bicycling for miles. I bet you all were too. And your parents had no clue where you were as long as you were home for dinner.

You all seriously need to give your kids some breathing room to LEARN to be on their own, navigate, use common sense and acquire some street smarts.

Following their every move with water, snacks, and first aid kits is insane. Sorry. Time to stop hovering.

My 5th grader is a latchkey kid. She has quite a bit of freedom around our neighborhood in the city. However, I wouldn't let her go off at an amusement park in another state without close supervision.

[Anonymous]

At age 11, my kids were able and allowed to walk around most amusement parks on their own and just check in with us at set places and times. I personally consider that a very age-appropriate level of independence, and find the idea of insisting that an 11 year old has to be supervised at all times bizarre, stifling, & over-protective.

However, if I were chaperoning a school trip I would not find it appropriate to act in the same way, just relying on an assumpption that the other parents would also be comfortable with that level of independence for their kids. Perhaps some kids are truly not ready for that in fifth grade, and besides, it isn't my place to decide that for someone else's kid if the other parent would not agree. If dealing with a group of other people's children, I always default to the most restrictive level of supervision reasonably possible, because in my experience there are a wide range of things parents consider age-appropriate, and allowing more freedom is more likely to result in upset parents than providing more direct supervision than usual.

I would suggest keeping the kids in together with you at all times, except for visits to the restroom if the group is mixed gender, in which case I would make every effort to stand somewhere right outside the restrooms, sending the kids in in groups with instructions to finish their business and return directly to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most 5th grade boys are either 11 and some even 12yrs old.

Even still, a group of 10yr olds can navigate an amusement park. That is what maps and employees are for.

If an 8yr old can be a latchkey kid, than a group 2-3yrs older can be on there own for short amount of times with meet-up areas in a park. What do you all think will happen? They will get grabbed and thrown in a bathroom and raped? By this age I was gone all day in the woods, baseball field, park, playing games in the street and bicycling for miles. I bet you all were too. And your parents had no clue where you were as long as you were home for dinner.

You all seriously need to give your kids some breathing room to LEARN to be on their own, navigate, use common sense and acquire some street smarts.

Following their every move with water, snacks, and first aid kits is insane. Sorry. Time to stop hovering.

In what country are fifth graders 12 unless they failed a grade?

By June of 5th grade 90% of kids are 11. The other 10% will be 11 in less than 2 months. Kids that were redshirted are 12. Saying all these kids are 10yrs old is an absolute lie.

[Anonymous]

Where did the OP say this is a school trip? She just said she is chaperoning a group of boys. She wouldn't ask if it was a school trip because they pick the groups, they set up meet-up areas, decide the rules, etc...

I take my kids and their friends up to Hershey Park for each of their summer birthdays. There are 7 of them in my van. I hang with the non birthday kid and the birthday group goes off on their own. Ages 14 and 12 but we have been doing this for 3 years twice a summer.

OP, I put my cell # on slips of paper to put in their socks/sneakers if they don't have their own cell. If they get separated, they ask an employee or a mom to borrow a phone to call me. My only rule is they all stay together. We meet up for lunch at the Mixed Grill at 1pm (it has a/c) and then again at the water park at 4pm. I hang there with their stuff so they can swim. Then we eat dinner at Nathan's around 6pm while drying off. Then we meet at Founder's Circle at 9pm. They finish off a few rides there, get kettle corn for the ride home and we are done.

We have never had an issue. The kids do great. I am always hanging out with the non-birthday kid though so I have a playmate to go on rides with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised by the amount of supervision other posters have in mind. I would exchange cell numbers, plant myself in a couple places and let them know where I am at the time, meet up for lunch, and turn them loose. A place like Hershey is family friendly and all the rides should be enough to keep them from
doing something really silly.

This right here is why I will not allow my kids to go on trips unless I know what kind of parent the chaperone is.

Not the PP but that's why my kids go on events like this, I make sure they don't invite the kids who have helicopter parents.

Did you have a parent planted on your ass when you were 12yrs old is the world just "so dangerous" these days?

The OP said it was 5th graders. My daughter in 5th grade is 10, not 12 and would want the supervision level being discussed. And, I'm by no means a helicopter parent.

I agree with this. My son is 10 and would FREAK OUT if he got separated from a buddy, and there was no chaperone in sight. His sense of direction isn't good, particularly in unfamiliar places.

Middle school would be entirely different. We went unsupervised in 8th grade, only meeting back at lunch and at pick-up time. Nobody got lost.

Seriously, your son is going to be in middle school in 3 months and he can't navigate anywhere and will freak out? That is pretty sad.

[Anonymous]

I am curious for all those that are scared to let these 5th graders go off on rides without holding a Mom's hand. What will the OP do if a few kids don't want to go on the same ride? Walk the entire line with them all and then sit in the exit lane boring those few kids.

These kids are plenty old enough to go off on rides. Do you think they are going to leave the park? Honestly, what is the concern here? Have any of you been to Hershey Park? It is as family friendly as you can get.