Overnight school field trips

dd

5th grade seems so young, my daughter was in the 10th grade and they went to orlando for 2 nights. in 11 grade she went to GA. for 4 days. no adults slept in the same room as students, there was 4 kids to one adult.

i know here if you are a voulteer you must go throught a background check, but they have to pay for it them selves. if it was my child, i would not send them. not that young. but that is me. good luck with your choice.

I don't have children but have to agree, I wouldn't send my child at that age, to overnight field trips. Maybe once he's a teen but even in that regard, depends on the individual. There are definately some teens that should not be allowed out EVER without the adult supervision LOL but seriously...go with your gut. If you feel it's not a good idea than don't have him go.

If you feel that way then I wouldn't send him.

I wouldn't let my child go either at that age. I chaperoned a 5th grade trip to the zoo once, oh boy! I'm step mom, real mom and dad decided I needed to go at least once to experience it, I'm still mad at them!

I agree with the above poster, if you don't feel comfortable, don't send your child. Plan something else fun for that time the class is away.

Our school has a 2 night trip in the 5th grade to some kind of adventure camping thing. It's a tradition, like the senior trip, that the kids really look forward to. (5th grade is the last grade before middle school) Since my oldest is only in 1st grade, it hasn't been an issue for us yet. I think they have a ratio of about 1 adult per 3-4 kids. They are only going to the camp place and not an amusement park at that age. The 5th grade is made up of around 50 kids.

sixth grade and he's the only one and its a band trip
all the other second year students for band are in the 7th grade and up

I would send my daughter (who is in 4th grade now, but will be in 5th next year) but I would volunteer to be one of the chaparones. That would eliminate two of your objections. As for Williamsburg over Balitmore etc...I haven't been to Baltimore or Philly but I have been to Williamsburg. I love it so much I have actually been twice. It isn't so much Williamsburg itself, but the area as a whole that I love. Are they planning to visit Jamestown? That, IMO, was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. At Jamestown, they are excavating the original settlement and when we were there last summer, they were in the process of excavating that actual original fort (I still haven't developed my pics yet or I would share) and you can actually go see it. To me, I thought it was the coolest thing ever to be there and see that. I know there's lots of cool colonial stuff in the areas around you as well (I am in Indiana, we don't have colonial stuff here ) but I think it's a different type of experience.

My son would not go without me, period. I go on every school trip, and the one time they did a chaperone 'lottery' (to a farm) and I wasn't picked, I drove there myself and met them there. And very glad I did, as the chaperone-to-kid ratio was much lower than we'd been told it would be, one girl actually went missing and no one but me noticed (as I was leaving!) and all sorts of other crap. I took my son and left; no way was he staying there with those idiots after what I saw.

I know that no one will look after my child's welfare the way I do, so no one else is going to if I can help it. There would DEFINITELY will not be any overnights without me.

The reasons you gave are more than enough to say "no". Do what you feel is best for your son's welfare.

I think that is too long a trip for kids so young. My kids went away overnight when they were in the 6 th grade. No problems with that. They had a blast.

I would only go if I was one of the parents chaperoning so I could go with my kid too. But that's me. Sounds like you have reservations about it, in which case I would just say no. There is almost no such thing as being overprotective with kids that young.

I went to a place in Maine called "Ocean Park" when I was in 5th grade. It was for a whole week and was an educational field trip type thing. It was my first time really away from home and I was a wreck but had a lot of fun. We slept with like 6 students per room and I think there were counselors on the floor. No students' parents came bc I think they wanted to teach us how to get away...but there were tons of teachers and counselors (looking back, they were probably all high schoolers but I thought they were sooo old.) Haha then in 7th grade we did a similar thing but stayed at a hotel/motel type place in Cape Cod. I think it was really good for me.

Wow, that is really young to go so far for a school thing overnight.
The first time I did was junior high (8th) and I have to admit that all the parents in 2 of the rooms were called (mine included) because we did things we should not have been doing (I admit nothing! ).
If you cannot chaperone and feel so strongly of the things you mentioned then I think you have answered your own question.

P.S. I will not even say what we did in high school on our OEA trip out of town... , I still wonder why the hotel never called and complained to the school....

Absolutely not! That's too far for such a young kid to spend that many nights away from home. The only way I would let him go is if I could go too. Otherwise, he wouldn't go. Period! Even at an older age, even in his teens, I still wouldn't allow my kid to go without me.

Originally Posted by susieand I went to a place in Maine called "Ocean Park" when I was in 5th grade. It was for a whole week and was an educational field trip type thing. It was my first time really away from home and I was a wreck but had a lot of fun. We slept with like 6 students per room and I think there were counselors on the floor. No students' parents came bc I think they wanted to teach us how to get away...but there were tons of teachers and counselors (looking back, they were probably all high schoolers but I thought they were sooo old.) Haha then in 7th grade we did a similar thing but stayed at a hotel/motel type place in Cape Cod. I think it was really good for me.

I'm from Iowa and we had a similar thing where we went to a state park and stayed there. It was one of the most fun experiences in my childhood and I'm so glad that my mom never questioned if I could go or not. It was done every year as a fifth grade treat for years and years.