Reply to Field Trips

Forum Index » Schools and Education General Discussion

Reply to "Field Trips"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]Here's the thing.  In 8 years, you DD needs to be ready to say goodbye to you at a college dorm and manage 100% on her own. And there are hundreds of small steps between now when she safely can't go with her class to a museum without a parent and  2500 days from now, when you lose control.  In that time, you owe it to her to teach her how to be independent of you-- safely. You have to gradually trust your child to follow the rules and take responsibility for keeping herself safe (starting with staying with the group and following field trip rules) which means gradually learning to let go and trust her. Key word: gradually (small steps, a little at a time, building on success). Toughest thing for a mom to do.  But you can't supervise and control every moment of their lives until they turn 18, and then expect that they will overnight become a functional adult who can live alone, do laundry, attend class and, much,much more importantly know better than to take a drink from a stranger or get in the car with a friend who has been drinking.

Start small and start now with the expectations you have for her keeping herself safe at a Smithsonian (where there are cameras and guards covering every inch and she is safe, even if the chaperones day drink). Work up to Girl Scout sleep away camp in a couple years, or such, and a good, supervised academic or sports camp at UVA or such in late middle or early high school. In the long run, she'll be safer for it. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics