Hi all, OP here - thought I should update. I decided in the end that I was not comfortable with him going. He was bummed (as was DH) but I just couldn't live with it. Planned a fun sleepover with another friend who wasn't allowed to go and was moving on.

Got an email yesterday that so few people signed up that they were canceling the trip and merging with the field trip that was staying more local - Gamboa rainforest for the day, then a camp-out behind the school (5 minutes from our house), then the zoo the next day. Signed him up right away and he's thrilled.

So in the end, I guess I wasn't the only parent who thought it was a little crazy!! I'm sure he would have been fine, and I'll let him go on whatever trip they plan next year, but I just wasn't ready. I'm glad I'm trusting my instincts - when they offered up the second version, camping out close to home, I immediately felt ok with it in a way I didn't feel about the other trip. So, "crisis" averted and everyone's happy! Rarely do things work out so nicely - I'm savoring it today.

Thanks again everyone for your advice!

Let me start by saying that I see all overnight activities for children through the following prism: a close friend of mine (male) went on an unsupervised overnight trip (meaning no parents permitted on the trip) when he was nine years old, and was sexually assaulted by the group leader. He never told anyone, including his family, until he began seeing a therapist many years later.

I would be less concerned about driving issues and crime, although of course these are also concerns. I'm sure many other parents will say I'm paranoid, but the reality is that on an overnight trip with no parents - unlike in a daytime school or daytime field trip setting - very young children are uniquely vulnerable. I would not participate in an overnight trip that does not allow parents or, at a minimum, trusted teachers. And I will not permit my children to go to sleepaway camp until they're considerably older - perhaps age 12.

OP, you should trust your instincts. That's the bottom line.

OP, I am a teacher and used to teach at an international school in the DC area where overnight trips of this sort were common in elementary school. We did not take parents along as chaperones; however, children were very well supervised and also well behaved, and they obeyed the teachers. We also had a mandatory parents information night, gave the parents a detailed schedule, and clearly had thought through the whole trip.

That's the key to me -- how well organized do you think the trip is, and how competent are the teachers? Are they having an orientation meeting, and if so, is it well organized? Do they understand concerns parents may have and address them up front? You can really trust your gut on this I think.

The fact that only half the parents send their children on this trip would make me a bit cautious. It doesn't sound like everyone is comfortable with this type of trip. The fact that you don't know yet which teachers will be on the trip would make me believe that it isn't that organized. Although probably they ned half the teachers to stay back to teach the kids who aren't going.

Just because some schools do trips like this well, doesn't mean that all trips will go well. And it's not the end of the world if your child doesn't go.

Anonymous wrote:It would depend where in Panana. No to the Atlantic side, Darien, or San Blas. Yes to area by Gamboa in former canal zone or Pacific Beaches. I would buy him a cell phone to take with him and have a talk about if anything made him uncomfortable to call.

It's El Valle. I wouldn't send ME to the Darien, let alone DS. We're definitely going to send a cell if he goes. Thank you.

Thanks everyone. Still waiting for some clarification from the school on which teachers are going and how well they know DS and how well DS knows them. That will probably be the key to this.

And to the PP who thought I was US based, sending my seven year-old to Panama, thank you for the enormous laugh. Made my day.

Happy Chanukah everyone!

It would depend where in Panana. No to the Atlantic side, Darien, or San Blas. Yes to area by Gamboa in former canal zone or Pacific Beaches. I would buy him a cell phone to take with him and have a talk about if anything made him uncomfortable to call.