Do you think your elementary aged child is being properly supervised while on a field trip?

[Anonymous]

NP. Agreed. I went on a trip with my child's class for swimming lessons. Our school sent two chaperones (school employees). They were so busy in their phones that neither noticed a child left the pool area and ran down the hall into the men's locker room. I was not impressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else feel bad for the poor teacher that was the victim of OP's experiment? She probably waited to call you because they were frantically looking for your kid and hoping he would turn up. I'm skeptical that they didn't notice that your kid was missing for so long; really they might have been quietly looking for him without sounding the alarm and worrying everyone. I'm just dumbfounded that you would think it's ok to take your child away from the group without letting the teacher know. Did this ruin the trip for the rest of the class? Your behavior was really selfish. You could have instead joined the group and helped out the teacher rather than trying to prove a point.

Plus one. Or, did another parent notice you and told the teacher you had your child so they didn’t call until you had been gone for so long? Your experiment proves nothing except that you do not respect your child’s teacher. Find another school, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jeez. One of my best childhood memories is of being left at the zoo in fifth grade.

Ooh I wanna hear this story.

Op you're a bit crazy. Not the best tactics to get seriously even if done your points are valid. Train your kids to stay with the group. They're old enough for some personal responsibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you really do this? What exactly did you say on the phone when they called you?

And, while it's terrible it took them so long to realize he was missing...weren't they annoyed when they found out you'd taken him?

Presumably, they didn't call as soon as they realized he was missing. They probably spent a fair amount of time looking for him first, since wasting time to call a parent in that situation wouldn't be a priority.

By doing what she did, and taking the focus of the adults off the students, OP put every child on that trip in jeopardy. I hope the school called the police on her.

Regardless of whether the situation was as bad as she describes, what OP did was horrible.

[Anonymous]

No need for my ES kid to be properly supervised because they are very adept and self-reliant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone else feel bad for the poor teacher that was the victim of OP's experiment? She probably waited to call you because they were frantically looking for your kid and hoping he would turn up. I'm skeptical that they didn't notice that your kid was missing for so long; really they might have been quietly looking for him without sounding the alarm and worrying everyone. I'm just dumbfounded that you would think it's ok to take your child away from the group without letting the teacher know. Did this ruin the trip for the rest of the class? Your behavior was really selfish. You could have instead joined the group and helped out the teacher rather than trying to prove a point.

My guess is she set the entire thing up with her child. Why wouldn't she chaperone?

[Anonymous]

What happened OP? I imagine the school probably had already notified the authorities before they called you. I’m sure they were frantic along with the employees looking for your child. I can’t believe you just took him out for lunch.

[Anonymous]

i chaperoned a kindergarten trip today. I had 5 kids including my own for 3 hours. This is MCPS. Everyone had a great time no one was lost and i supervised everyone like my own, so did all the other chaperones. The teachers had a list of chaperones and assigned kids, before the kids were loaded back on the bus, the teachers counted, re counted and triple counted everyone. A couple of kids lost their jackets, do we need a thread about that? something like ....Horrible MCPS field trip chaperone lost my child’s Patagonia jacket!

[Anonymous]

Teacher here. I hate field trips mostly because the parent chaperones are basically big kids themselves. They are not responsible so I can't assign students to them. They just come for the free trip. They are allowed to supervise their own child but my assistant and I divide up the rest of the students. Many parents never check their child's take home folder so there are always students who don't come on the trip. At least that keeps the student/teacher ratio down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i chaperoned a kindergarten trip today. I had 5 kids including my own for 3 hours. This is MCPS. Everyone had a great time no one was lost and i supervised everyone like my own, so did all the other chaperones. The teachers had a list of chaperones and assigned kids, before the kids were loaded back on the bus, the teachers counted, re counted and triple counted everyone. A couple of kids lost their jackets, do we need a thread about that? something like ....Horrible MCPS field trip chaperone lost my child’s Patagonia jacket!

I have also chaperoned MCPS field trips, and on the first-grade field trip to the zoo (where I had 4 kids including my own for 3 hours), one kid lost his hat. So I am a horrible MCPS field trip chaperone too!

[Anonymous]

It's up to the children to be aware and stay will the group. If your child can't follow directions and stay with the group it's probably better for everyone they stay home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in NW DC, and there have always been lots of parents on field trips. Almost all working parents, too, not SAHPs.

I've never been responsible for more than two other kids on a field trip. Where are you guys that you're responsible for up to five other kids, as OP says was the case?

Same.

OP - name which school district where this happened. It's not common in the DC area for field trips to be 5 to an adult for kids that age.

MCPS 5 kids each time.

[Anonymous]

Our FCPS elementary is 4 or 5 to 1 ratio. I think a 2:1 child/parent ratio is pretty outside the norm.

It does make me uncomfortable and I'm always nervous on field trip days. Neither my husband or I has the flexibility to take off work to chaperone. But, we always have a discussion with our kids about their behavior, how to treat chaperones (like their teacher), that it's not recess/playtime, and what to do if they get lost.

It's called growing up.

[Anonymous]

I have chaperoned quite a few trips and never had an incident.
It is sad that teachers hate field trips (some of them at least). I get it but it is sad.
I am reluctant to give my child a phone as he will prob be showing it off instead of learning something on a field trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i chaperoned a kindergarten trip today. I had 5 kids including my own for 3 hours. This is MCPS. Everyone had a great time no one was lost and i supervised everyone like my own, so did all the other chaperones. The teachers had a list of chaperones and assigned kids, before the kids were loaded back on the bus, the teachers counted, re counted and triple counted everyone. A couple of kids lost their jackets, do we need a thread about that? something like ....Horrible MCPS field trip chaperone lost my child’s Patagonia jacket!

That's why we send a cheap coat to school and keep the good one at home.