Is Outdoor Education Mandatory?

[Anonymous]

My kid went and was pretty unhappy. It was incredibly disorganized. In fact, when I went to pick him up it took an hour to get the kids off the buses. Crazy.

[Anonymous]

I've had three kids go to OE. They all had a great time and one wanted to go twice. I've also never heard of a kid who didn't enjoy it.

I have a feeling that those who supposedly didn't have a good time are those whose parents run a disorganized household, are helicopter parents, or have convinced the kid that he will have a terrible time.

We have some terribly wacky parents in this county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've had three kids go to OE. They all had a great time and one wanted to go twice. I've also never heard of a kid who didn't enjoy it.

I have a feeling that those who supposedly didn't have a good time are those whose parents run a disorganized household, are helicopter parents, or have convinced the kid that he will have a terrible time.

We have some terribly wacky parents in this county.

Or those who have more experience with camping and outdoors. I have four kids who went and they were all fine with it but found it to be nothing great and had had better experiences with other camps. One went when the weather was bad and it was incredibly disorganized and they weren't ready with alternate activities. One went when bed bugs were found in cabins.
Overall we were unimpressed with the program, and it has nothing to do with helicopter parenting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do they serve food wise there? Do they accommodate kids with allergies or special diets? I would love for my child to go but was wondering if they provide options for kids with special dietary needs. My child has a dairy, egg and nut allergies.

My DD went last year and has celiac disease. They said they could accommodate her but couldn't guarantee there would be no cross contamination. They are better with the life threatening allergies apparently. That said, we sent the majority of her food and they let her have access to the nurses refrigerator and a microwave. They were great about all of it and dhe had a ball.

[Anonymous]

Wasn't there a thread about bedbugs at this camp one year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wasn't there a thread about bedbugs at this camp one year?

There have been multiple reports of bedbugs at the Skycroft facility. We got a note home the year my younger daughter went. They were in another cabin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I forgot to add, don't do anything of the other weird things parents do that make their kid feel singled out about OE. We had a parent who insisted on attempting to stay in a nearby motel with her daughter and just driving in every day.

[Anonymous]

My son loved it, but he also goes to sleep away camp every summer, so the idea of being away from home is not new to him. We really need to give our children some independence. This is a school program, not dropping them off in the middle of the woods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every year this comes up. I am pretty sure that in most cases its the parents who talk the kid out of going when in fact the kid really wants to go.

Stay the hell out of it mom.

Not every child is dying to go! Not every child is thrill about this and not every child has a good experience either. If a child doesn't want to go, then parents should take their feelings into consideration. Parents have every right to be involve with matters that concern their children. Any normal parent will have concerns about their child spending the night with people they don't know.

Outdoor Ed is a school-sponsored field trip. Typical parents don't generally have concerns about their typical children going on a school-sponsored field trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every year this comes up. I am pretty sure that in most cases its the parents who talk the kid out of going when in fact the kid really wants to go.

Stay the hell out of it mom.

Not every child is dying to go! Not every child is thrill about this and not every child has a good experience either. If a child doesn't want to go, then parents should take their feelings into consideration. Parents have every right to be involve with matters that concern their children. Any normal parent will have concerns about their child spending the night with people they don't know.

Outdoor Ed is a school-sponsored field trip. Typical parents don't generally have concerns about their typical children going on a school-sponsored field trip.

In a school system that routinely allows pedophiles to be teachers, typical parents are concerned with overnight trips! If they are not concerned, they are idiots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every year this comes up. I am pretty sure that in most cases its the parents who talk the kid out of going when in fact the kid really wants to go.

Stay the hell out of it mom.

Not every child is dying to go! Not every child is thrill about this and not every child has a good experience either. If a child doesn't want to go, then parents should take their feelings into consideration. Parents have every right to be involve with matters that concern their children. Any normal parent will have concerns about their child spending the night with people they don't know.

Outdoor Ed is a school-sponsored field trip. Typical parents don't generally have concerns about their typical children going on a school-sponsored field trip.

In a school system that routinely allows pedophiles to be teachers, typical parents are concerned with overnight trips! If they are not concerned, they are idiots.

You've been posting a lot on this thread, PP.

[Anonymous]

I have several neighbors whose kids are in college who have had bed bug scares. They do what could be considered the minimum treatment and things go back to normal. None of them have ever had a second outbreak. That doesn't sound like bedbugs. A real bedbug infestation is difficult to get rid of, not that they are complaining.

There have been multiple reports of bedbugs on DCUM which could be multiple reports of the same incident or multiple reports of "bugs of any type" being hauled home from outdoor ed.

"There have been multiple reports of bedbugs at the Skycroft facility. We got a note home the year my younger daughter went. They were in another cabin."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never understand why people make such a big deal about this. My oldest did outdoor ed a couple of years ago and you'd think from some parents' reactions that the kids were being deployed to Iraq. And there's always posts here freaking out too.

My kid went to a nature center based in a lovely area of Rockville. Parents could volunteer aka check up on their kids. It was pretty standard fare bonding activities and camp stuff. The kids had chores to do around the center and in the cafeteria for meals. It wasn't a life changing experience but it was a traumatic one either - it was mostly no big deal (although my son was happy to miss a few days of classes.)

NP. OP didn't ask you for your opinion of parents who don't want their kids to participate. Either answer OP's question without being a d*ck or STFU entirely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every year this comes up. I am pretty sure that in most cases its the parents who talk the kid out of going when in fact the kid really wants to go.

Stay the hell out of it mom.

Not every child is dying to go! Not every child is thrill about this and not every child has a good experience either. If a child doesn't want to go, then parents should take their feelings into consideration. Parents have every right to be involve with matters that concern their children. Any normal parent will have concerns about their child spending the night with people they don't know.

Outdoor Ed is a school-sponsored field trip. Typical parents don't generally have concerns about their typical children going on a school-sponsored field trip.

Well after the Vigna case and the case at Richard Montgomery last year where the Security Team leader was sexually involved with a student, it's reasonable that parents might have concerns about their kids attending an overnight MCPS sponsored field trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every year this comes up. I am pretty sure that in most cases its the parents who talk the kid out of going when in fact the kid really wants to go.

Stay the hell out of it mom.

Not every child is dying to go! Not every child is thrill about this and not every child has a good experience either. If a child doesn't want to go, then parents should take their feelings into consideration. Parents have every right to be involve with matters that concern their children. Any normal parent will have concerns about their child spending the night with people they don't know.

Outdoor Ed is a school-sponsored field trip. Typical parents don't generally have concerns about their typical children going on a school-sponsored field trip.

Well after the Vigna case and the case at Richard Montgomery last year where the Security Team leader was sexually involved with a student, it's reasonable that parents might have concerns about their kids attending an overnight MCPS sponsored field trip.

If you don't want your kid to go on Outdoor Ed, then don't sign the permission slip. There, done.

But if you think that it's dangerous for kids to go on Outdoor Ed, then I'm going to expect you to provide data -- or at least anecdotes -- specific to Outdoor Ed. None of the stuff you've brought up is related to Outdoor Ed.