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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think OP is nuts and pulled a ridiculous stunt. That being said, I have been horrified at how poorly run field trips are in this area. I volunteered for one with second graders, got to the site (Mt. Vernon) and was given six kids at the front gate and told to meet back there in two hours. Teacher disappeared, and the groups were not expected to stay together.[b] I had a couple of horrible kids in my group, but since they were not my children and I was not their teacher, I couldn’t really yell at them or give strict consequences for running off and not listening. [/b]Since much of MV is an unguided tour, I also found myself having to try to make up a narrative about what we were looking at.. I don’t think the teacher took a headcount on the bus at the end of the trip either.

When I had been on field trips in other places, the teacher keeps the group together and the parents are force multipliers. Now when my son has field trips, I remind himhe must stay with his teacher or chaperone at all times.[/quote]

New poster. See the bolded statement. My kid is in HS now and I've chaperoned many field trips from kindergarten through middle school.

Did the teachers not ever give you their cell numbers to use in case of a kid being a serious problem? Our teachers always did, and also gave us a heads-up in advance if they knew a particular kid might be prone to acting up and especially to running off. And students knew there would be consequences back at school if they misbehaved on the trip.

As for the idea that you "couldn't really yell at them or give strict consequences for running off"? It doesn't matter that they're not your kids. You're allowed to tell ill-behaved kids that you are the boss of them, frankly, and make clear that if one of them runs off, the consequence would be for them to have to go with the  teacher for the rest of the day. And though no parent wants to make that call and be "that chaperone" who had to tattle to the teacher -- parents in our schools DID use those calls if they really needed to do so. It was rare because most parents who chaperoned in our schools seemed actually to be willing to tell other people's children, "If you can't listen, you will stay glued next to me for the rest of this trip, and if you can't stay there, you will end up in the teacher's group, or done for the day." I've seen a kid sent back to wait at the departure point with a chaperone (when there were enough chaperones to do this) because the kid could not control himself.

In my own groups,  I only recall one kid over the years who tried running off or messing around in the bathroom etc., and yeah, he was stressful to have in my group for that day, but it helped that the rest of the kids quickly figured out that he was going to slow them down and prevent them from getting to do things, so THEY began telling him to hurry up and to stick with us.

Before people post, but our teachers don't give us numbers, etc. -- so ASK for that next time. Say that other schools do this and you want it in case you have a child who goes missing or whatever. And don't hesitate to call the teacher(s) if a child is ruining the trip for the other children in the group. I've never actually had to do it because the kids knew I WOULD do it if they acted up.

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Totally agree with PP’s response! I think this attitude among the parent chaperones — that you can’t discipline “someone else’s kid”— is a big part of the problem.  We have 4 kids and I have chaperoned many MCPS field trips: yes, 5 kids per parent is pretty common.  I think that, because I have boys, the teachers seem to assign me all-boy groups, typically my son and the friend he picked, then 3 other boys. I have no problem telling the kids where to go, to stick with me, and if one of them runs away from the group I round them up with my ‘mom’ voice. Honestly, except for 1 kid with obvious behavioral issues, they listened to me and I never had to call the teacher. I’m also the parent who tells them to sit down on the bus or not to throw food when other chaperones ignore the behavior.  The teachers can’t realistically be expected to take care of their own group of kids AND be responsible for the behavior of all of the other kids during the entire field trip. I really think parents who aren’t willing or able to provide this level of effort shouldn’t volunteer.

I see the lack of organization others are talking about, but it doesn’t bother me because I feel capable to navigate Mt. Vernon or the zoo with just my group...it would be a nightmare to try to keep the entire class together in these types of venues. However, it’s clear to me from observing other parents, and reading this thread, that some other volunteers don’t feel this way: my thought is that these folks should either step up or stop volunteering. OP’s post to me doesn’t ring true, sounds to me more like what OP wishes she had been able to prove, but OP is illuminating the fact that yes, field trips often are not well-supervised.[/quote]

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