Field trip spinoff....

[anonsouthernbell]

Would (do) you allow your child to go on field trips that you aren't supervising? Originally I would have aid yes, but the more I think about it I don't think I would. You never know if the volunteer chaperones are sex offenders, child molesters ("closet"), etc.... Plus, after reading the sex trafficking article I am equally concerned about that aspect....anyone else? Thoughts?

[i.<3.cheesysmiles]

I never thought of it, honestly. I haven't read the sex trafficking article either.

[anonsouthernbell]

I never thought of it, honestly. I haven't read the sex trafficking article either.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/...ard/57846054/1

[CamaLamaMama]

I do let DD go on field trips without me. To me it's no different from sending her to school, the teachers have the same possibilities of molesting kids.
I also send her to camp where she goes on trips without me. I think the risks are everywhere, I pray that none of our children to exposed to this, but I also know that I cannot be there every second of everyday so I do let her do things like this.

However, we had a sex offender that lived across from the park where I live. He recently moved, prior to that though I wouldn't have ever let her at the park alone. I still won't because she is 5, but I probably never would have let her go alone. I didn't go if we were going to be there alone.

[tanyachap]

I need to first make sure that the school trips are well organized and safe. I go as a volunteer initially and if I feel they are ok, I would let them go. I dont expect secret service type of security but low adult student ratio (low is depending on the age of course) and good organization in place. There are risks everywhere so I am not going to deprive my children of experience but I wont expose them to unnecessary risks.

I volunteered at my sons' preschool and love their organization. So I have let ds1 go on field trips without me. I still volunteer here and there.

[SeptemberMom]

This is a great question and one in which I know will require much prayer from me. I am naturally over protective and have high expectations for care givers (I am trying to change). It doesn't help that I have been in education for over 15 years in the capacity as teacher, specialist and more recently, supervisor of a department. During this time, I have seen great, good, improving, and not so good teachers so I am already very observant of everything in my DD's environment.

Would I allow her to go to a field trip without me? I hope I will be able to after much prayer and believing that she will receive the care needed. However, if I observe loosey goosey practices within her classroom, I will most definitely be present on field trips.

[TripMomma]

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/...ard/57846054/1

Awful.
I am usually on the slightly over protective side, I could see me not being comfortable with the kids going on field trips unless I'm there.

[DucksLikeRain]

Yes. No adult who hasn't had a background check is allowed to be on field trips or to help on school grounds so that helps with my concern over that kind of thing. I make sure I go on field trips that involve high traffic places like the zoo or those fall festival farms-both girls can have difficulties navigating groups like that. But if its one where they're going to one of the students' dad's seed cleaning plant or dairy farm I only go if they're short on parent volunteers. IMO it's not practical for every parent to go every time and to be perfectly honest I would pull my child from a school if I didn't feel confident they could keep my child safe in whatever situation would arise in a normal school year.

[EvaElizabeth]

I have actually never been on a field trip WITH my son. I've never really thought about it honestly.... Schools where we live are pretty strict about volunteering. Before you can even help out with a holiday party in the classroom you have to have a back ground check and be approved.... So that includes chaperoning a field trip. Its called the PALS program.

[tyvek]

Yes, I would like to think I would. Since we are not is school yet this is still just theory for me.

Personally, it offends me that good honest volunteers are forced to be background checked before helping out at school. I think it is wrong to assume everyone is a perve. Staticically speaking, a child is more likely to be molested by a family member than a stranger. I think forcing checks on volunteers just pushes people away and spends money needlessly. Before Jerry Sandusky was convicted (from Penn State) he would have passed a background check.

[momma_k807]

I'd probably prefer that myself or my husband be there but it would depend one two factors - their age/grade and the location of the field trip.

[Jai]

Marissa went on her first field trip without me (or DH) as a chaperone I believe for the first time last year (5th) grade. Maybe it was 4th. I would much rather us be on the field trip with them. Peyton will actually be going without one of us (1st grade) in 2 weeks because I'm in a wedding that day and DH can't get off work. My dad is taking Jayden on a field trip that day already for me, and he'e babysitting J so he can't go with Peyton. They're going to the fire station right across the street from the school so I'm not too concerned. If it were anywhere else I'd probably keep her home that day since there is no way for us to be there. Mine tho is more of a concern for the bus ride than anything, but I'm getting better about it so I'm sure P will be able to go unchaperoned earlier than M did. I know all the parents in the kids classes who do volunteer and I trust them, as much as I would trust anyone who is not family.

[CamaLamaMama]

I have never filled out a background check at a school. That being said however, I work at my church as a children's ministry director, I plan Sunday school and all other aspects of kids at church. We have every volunteer that will work with kids fill out a background check every three years. For where I work its not a lack of trusting these people, it's part of what our insurance requires from us as a church. IMO and my experience, honest parents are happy to fill it out because they know it means their kids are safer because we check everyone that works with their kids. I am also required to hold safety training for sexual abuse prevention, not only to show the volunteers what we can and cannot do, but also so they can look for signs of a kid being abused elsewhere. I think these things are to protect the places that have th volunteers as well as protect the kids

[Jai]

As far as the background check... I'm not sure what all a background check entails but here in order to volunteer in class rooms and go on field trips you do have to fill out a form. I don't know what info is needed for background checks but the form needs our name and copy of our drivers license.

[anonsouthernbell]

Yes. No adult who hasn't had a background check is allowed to be on field trips or to help on school grounds so that helps with my concern over that kind of thing. I make sure I go on field trips that involve high traffic places like the zoo or those fall festival farms-both girls can have difficulties navigating groups like that. But if its one where they're going to one of the students' dad's seed cleaning plant or dairy farm I only go if they're short on parent volunteers. IMO it's not practical for every parent to go every time and to be perfectly honest I would pull my child from a school if I didn't feel confident they could keep my child safe in whatever situation would arise in a normal school year.

That is not the case in the district where I taught. Any adult could sign up to assist with chaperoning.

I do agree that it isn't feasible for every adult to go on every field trip. I was just thinking about this b/c I know in the past at field trips like the zoo, one parent was assigned a small group of children and would then go off on their own and meet back up at the bus at an appointed time. Just something I never thought about until last night....

[anonsouthernbell]

I have never filled out a background check at a school. That being said however, I work at my church as a children's ministry director, I plan Sunday school and all other aspects of kids at church. We have every volunteer that will work with kids fill out a background check every three years. For where I work its not a lack of trusting these people, it's part of what our insurance requires from us as a church. IMO and my experience, honest parents are happy to fill it out because they know it means their kids are safer because we check everyone that works with their kids. I am also required to hold safety training for sexual abuse prevention, not only to show the volunteers what we can and cannot do, but also so they can look for signs of a kid being abused elsewhere. I think these things are to protect the places that have th volunteers as well as protect the kids

This is the same at our church. Plus they have a policy in place where no one adult is allowed to be left alone with a child(ren). There must ALWAYS be another adult present. So I have no problem leaving my son at the church nursery.

[DucksLikeRain]

That is not the case in the district where I taught. Any adult could sign up to assist with chaperoning.

I do agree that it isn't feasible for every adult to go on every field trip. I was just thinking about this b/c I know in the past at field trips like the zoo, one parent was assigned a small group of children and would then go off on their own and meet back up at the bus at an appointed time. Just something I never thought about until last night....

I'm really surprised they don't require something to be filled out-we've had our kids in four different school districts and al of them, plus every preschool, had some sort of minimum information check. Mine is super easy because I have had an FBI background check which is on file but I know some of the parents have had to wait to come on a field trip or in the classroom because they didn't turn their form in with enough time for the check to be done.

As for something like the zoo, that's pretty common. If you send your child to any kind of day camp in the summer the same thing happens-small groups break up. For our school it happens at school also-parent volunteers take a small group of kids out to a quiet spot for reading or math groups. Again, for me personally, I would homeschool my kids before I would put them in a school where I felt like I needed to be present for every single thing. At this point our school is one that I feel comfortable with not being present for every field trip. But that's not to say I wouldn't pull them in an instant if something happened to change that general feel. Actually I did pull Keira from her first school because I felt like it wasn't a good safe environment for her (not in general) and that's when I found the school they're at.

[Bridget]

Dbf really worries about the child molester aspect of our kids being with other parents.
I have let the kids go on field trips without me but I won't again until I'm sure that certain guildelines are followed. I have them home today from an all day field trip for a few reasons. Also, I was just told this morning by the 10 year old that I drive to school with my kids that 2 kindergarteners were left at a field trip site. Now he is just a child so I'm not sure it's true but I will be finding out.
Along the same lines, when I dropped the other kids off this morning, I noticed there was no playground moniter outside with the 12 or so kids already there. So I used my cell to call the office and tell them. Who they sent out was a dad I presume was there to chaperone today's trip, holding a coffee. I just don't know how I feel about a lot of this and I'm trying to decide if I am being unreasonable in my thoughts that it's not ok.

[MaryJane]

They don't do field trips off school grounds here until around 2nd grade and by that time I'm fine with it. The only exception would be pool trips, but so far they haven't done anything like that.

[futuresoccermom]

It would depend on where they were going. I will definitely volunteer as a chaperone with kinder/grade 1/2 because I'm really nervous about it dd being so young and being out and about without me. I wouldn't allow her to go the pool or beach, waterslides anything that involves water or anything too busy. Thinking back to when I was in school, our field trips were always strictly educational, we'd go to heritage museums or bird sanctuaries. Field trips like that with an organized teacher don't frighten me as much and would probably let her go without me. But if I was the slightest bit hesitant on her abitilty to keep tabs on the kids and delegate parent volunteers, then no... so it depends on the teacher!

[OhBaby]

No, not at this age. I prefer either being there or DH.

[pepperlru]

With my older dd, the volunteers had to fill out background checks and actually go to the local police station to have it completed. I agree that that doesn't always catch every creep out there, but I also agree that assuming every adult that comes in contact with your child might be a pervert is a sad way to live. I try to strike a balance, but I do have to work hard at it because I have anxiety and worry issues. I always felt like it wasn't fair of me to attend every single field trip if there were a lot of other parents who wanted to attend - everyone should get a chance, and if the same small set of parents are always "in the loop" for volunteering, sometimes that leaves other parents out who would like to spend time with their kids too. I tried to be cognizant of that and not assume I would attend every time. That said, it happened that there weren't generally more parents than slots, so I think I did attend just about every trip with dd until her first overnight in 5th grade. I didn't get a slot for that one and I was very nervous, but in the end I was glad I let dd go. It was a great experience for her.
One of the hardest things about parenting for me so far is letting my kids go. It's very scary, but when I started to do it regularly a bit at a time, and to trust her a little (in whatever capacity was rational for her age), I really believe I saw some big leaps in self-confidence, personal growth, and happiness.

[tanyachap]

I wanted to add that I would NOT let a child under 9 to go anywhere around pool/beach/water if DH or I are not present. Regardless of background checks, number of guards, volunteers and whatnot. My kids will stay home. Simple as that. Last year I witnessed a little girl who nearly drowned next to her mom who was talking to a friend. I do not trust anyone with water but DH and myself.

[preciousnd98]

I would. I guess having taught kindergarten and been in charge of up to 35 5-6 year olds I know all of those parents put their trust in me and the parents who came along, so I feel like it is just part of the school experience.

[Marquette Fan]

Yes I would and will be doing so soon. I was hoping to chaperone Abbie's upcoming field trip but they only allow 4 chaperones for her class and I think they generally get more offers to chaperone than that. I found out today that I wasn't selected as a chaperone for the trip and was a little bummed but there's nothing I can do about it. Abbie was really upset about it b/c she thinks no one will help her open her juice box - I told her another adult will be more than happy to help though.

I would have liked to have gone as I have no idea how they run field trips at her school and I like to help out. But I'm not concerned about other parents especially since they make every adult who wants to help in a classroom or chaperone a field trip undergo a background check. Although I know that won't prevent every issue but it will help.

I'm not sure what would happen if we didn't want her to go on a field trip as her upcoming one is most of her school day. But I plan on sending her on all of them so that shouldn't matter. I do want to find out about the chaperone lottery and whether any preference is given on the next field trip to parents who haven't had a chance to chaperone yet. Although I'm guessing it's a completely random drawing for each trip which means with my luck I may never get to chaperone any field trips for Abbie while she is in school .

[hotpinkmomma0811]

Cody has not had a field trip yet, however, I would feel confident enough with him going without me. I do believe the volunteers have to undergo a background check. Things around here are pretty strict. I have a young baby at home so I can't go on the field trips if they were to come about.

[misfit]

Yes, I would and Sam already has with his preschool class and he goes on more this year.

[Ky'sMom]

Plenty of times actually. Usually DH goes on field trips. He went on one recently with Ky. Ky's school does about one trip per month so they are not all that frequent but are more frequent than most traditional schools in our area.

I am a worrier over child molestation especially since I was a victim of it myself but I know it usually happens at home, which was the case for me and so I do my best not to let my fear of this over take me in most instances. Also, it helps that on our school's field trips, there is never one adult looking over a group of kids. There are 3 and the odds that all 3 would be child molesters, 2 are teachers is very miniscule.

Erin

[Bugglette]

I do let DD go on field trips without me. To me it's no different from sending her to school, the teachers have the same possibilities of molesting kids.
I also send her to camp where she goes on trips without me. I think the risks are everywhere, I pray that none of our children to exposed to this, but I also know that I cannot be there every second of everyday so I do let her do things like this.

This. I was careful about our preschool choice and trust that they will properly organize/supervise field trips. I have noted that the majority of the other parents at his preschool are a little over-protective/helicopter-y. I almost went on his last field trip, and was going to ask if they need more parent chaperones....but when I got to the school to drop him off, about 50% of the parents had already volunteered.

[Volura]

I don't know. Dd has a preschool field trip in two weeks and I am worried about it. One thing that worries me is that it is a decent distance away and they will be taking a bus.. Dd is still rearfacing so that just doesn't sour well with me. They did say that parents are free to drive them and join them.