$53 for field trip

[DisneyAprilFool]

I don't think it's ignorant really. When you have kids there's expenses that come along with it....and that should be expected and planned for.

Field trips are not needs- they are wants. I think as parents, you need to plan for your kids' NEEDS and if you can fill their wants along with it- that's great. But it's not necessary.

Field trips are 'perks'- even when they serve a great purpose, educationally speaking. As much as I want every child to get to do EVERYTHING they want in their lives- there will be times when children won't get what they want. C'est la vie.

 

[JeremyGNJ]

Many people are "planning" to buy bread, heat and meds. Frankly, field trips are not priorities for these families.

Ok well *I* personally wouldnt have kids if I couldn't afford these things. That's all I was really saying I guess.

 

[melcan]

DS 4th grade went on a $50 field trip last week. Traveled about 100 miles to a historical site in Virginia. They had to rent a bus because you cannot take school busses unless you will be back by the end of the school day. The PTA will help pay if the the funds are there, but there are only so much $$$ to go around, and yes it is a public school

 

[robsmom]

So far we have been lucky. DS is only in 3rd grade and field trips have been to local theater, the farm, etc. Nothing more than 10 dollars or so.
He is only in 3rd grade so the biggies are coming. They do some sort of a camping/cabin bonding trip in 4th grade to get the kids from different schools to meet before they hit middle school but i have never heard anyone say i was expensive.

I do have one question and pls don't flame me. I have read mulitple posts in which the person was not happy with the cost but then went on to say and "i had to go so that cost XX". I understand wanting to chaperone but why do people feel that they "have" to go if they can not afford it. Do they make each kid have a parent - doesn't this exclude some who can't get off from work or whatever? Is it that you do not trust your teachers or other parents outside of school? I understand the overnight stuff. We have drawings to see who can chaperone (because more than enough people volunteer). if i don't win, my son goes without me.

 

[swkmom]

I just wrote a check for $350 for my daughter who is in the 6th grade to go to Williamsburg / Bush Gardens for 2 nights with her class. I thought the price was pretty high but if you consider admission to the park, hotel for 2 nights, transport, and food it may add up. However, for the trip on the way there we were told to pack them a bag lunch because it is not included in the cost!

 

[robsmom]

Huh.

I think when the price of field trips are more then what the typical student's family can afford at the drop of a hat that there needs to be some fundraising for THAT particular trip. We did barbecues, we bowled for donations (LOL- wow, I haven't remembered that in a long, long time!), we did everything we could to ensure everyone could go on our trips.

Not picking on you in particular, just using a great example. I personally disagree with teaching our children that if they want something that they can't afford they can just ask other people to pay for it. To me that is what any fundraiser that provides no value to people is. This includes alot of the overpriced sales items but in particular I will not let my son participate in something like a bowl for donations. I don't understand why groups can't do more fundraising that is actually benefitial and teaches the kids to work for something. A car wash is great. Last fall high school kids in my sister's town did a rake your leaves fundraiser. I am good with bake sales (although i understand the liability issues) or hoagie sales where the kids make it. I went to a great beef and beer for my cousin's son's school last year. Yes i spent more than i should have on coupons for a basket auction but my husband and i had a great evening out with some cousins and sibilings. OK off my soapbox.

 

[JeremyGNJ]

Not picking on you in particular, just using a great example. I personally disagree with teaching our children that if they want something that they can't afford they can just ask other people to pay for it. To me that is what any fundraiser that provides no value to people is. This includes alot of the overpriced sales items but in particular I will not let my son participate in something like a bowl for donations. I don't understand why groups can't do more fundraising that is actually benefitial and teaches the kids to work for something. A car wash is great. Last fall high school kids in my sister's town did a rake your leaves fundraiser. I am good with bake sales (although i understand the liability issues) or hoagie sales where the kids make it. I went to a great beef and beer for my cousin's son's school last year. Yes i spent more than i should have on coupons for a basket auction but my husband and i had a great evening out with some cousins and sibilings. OK off my soapbox.

I'm with you on this! I hate when kids do things as a fundraiser that just basically begs for money. I especially hate when they sell those $1 candy bars that are exactly the same as you can get from the vending machine for 75 cents.

I agree with you though, car washes are great because the kids are working for what they want. Even girlscout cookies are "ok" because its something you can't get anywhere else....but I prefer when they do "work" to get what they want, even if it's putting on some kind of show and selling tickets.

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

You're joking right? What an ignorant thing to say.

Nope, not joking at all. How is that ignorant???? To say that if you have kids, you need to budget for field trips???????????????????????? I'm sorry, but it's true. And as far as the other poster said about some families need to buy "food and heat", well so does our family. But am I going to deprive my kids of going on field trips? No way! If you can't afford the necessities in life, maybe people should consider that when deciding to have children. I am not saying field trips are necessary, but come on, kids need a childhood and part of that is field trips. sorry, my opinion.......

 

[MDTerrapin]

I don't think it's ignorant really. When you have kids there's expenses that come along with it....and that should be expected and planned for.

In a perfect world you would be correct but we do not live in a perfect world. In the fall 20.00 was a big deal to my family when it came to expenses.

Karen

 

[MDTerrapin]

Ok well *I* personally wouldnt have kids if I couldn't afford these things. That's all I was really saying I guess.

Well when we planned to have children we did not foresee the rug being pulled out from under us financially. I am sure most people don't. I am so glad your world fits into a perfect box for you.

Karen

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

Well when we planned to have children we did not foresee the rug being pulled out from under us financially. I am sure most people don't. I am so glad your world fits into a perfect box for you.

Karen

 

[MDTerrapin]

Nope, not joking at all. How is that ignorant???? To say that if you have kids, you need to budget for field trips???????????????????????? I'm sorry, but it's true. And as far as the other poster said about some families need to buy "food and heat", well so does our family. But am I going to deprive my kids of going on field trips? No way! If you can't afford the necessities in life, maybe people should consider that when deciding to have children. I am not saying field trips are necessary, but come on, kids need a childhood and part of that is field trips. sorry, my opinion.......

Maybe people are in different situations when they plan to have children. We never saw our financial problems coming but they did and we had to dig ourselves out of it.

Karen

 

[meandtheguys2]

Nope, not joking at all. How is that ignorant???? To say that if you have kids, you need to budget for field trips???????????????????????? I'm sorry, but it's true. And as far as the other poster said about some families need to buy "food and heat", well so does our family. But am I going to deprive my kids of going on field trips? No way! If you can't afford the necessities in life, maybe people should consider that when deciding to have children. I am not saying field trips are necessary, but come on, kids need a childhood and part of that is field trips. sorry, my opinion.......

Heaven help you if the bottom drops out of your life ate some point. There are people out there that have worked hard all of their lives, and been laid off from middle management jobs, had preemie babies (my niece is a million dollar baby...did you/would you have "planned" for one of those? It took them 8 years to pay all of the bills) Most people never believed we'd be paying $4 a gallon for gas. Or the rising cost of food.

Field trips are not necessities. Especially not $50 trips! It is quite possible to have a happy childhood with wonderful memories without an overpriced field trip... Teaching children that they need fancy entertainment to be happy is disservice at best. However, I am certainly glad your school has more compassion for people and their children than you have.

I think people who make stupid statements about what financial situation is appropriate for having children are, well, can't say...rather not be banned.

 

[DisneyAprilFool]

Nope, not joking at all. How is that ignorant???? To say that if you have kids, you need to budget for field trips???????????????????????? I'm sorry, but it's true. And as far as the other poster said about some families need to buy "food and heat", well so does our family. But am I going to deprive my kids of going on field trips? No way! If you can't afford the necessities in life, maybe people should consider that when deciding to have children. I am not saying field trips are necessary, but come on, kids need a childhood and part of that is field trips. sorry, my opinion.......

If the only reason a child has a 'childhood' is due to expensive fieldtrips- there is an issue within the family unit- period. Field trips do not make one's childhood- a family that loves one another and is there for one another DOES.

I've heard many, many people who came from large families say that while they couldn't afford the 'extras' in life, they more then made up for it in the amount of family time spent together.

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

Heaven help you if the bottom drops out of your life ate some point. Thee are people out there that have worked hard all of their lives, and been laid off from middle management jobs, had preemie babies (my niece is a million dollar baby...did you/would you have "planned" for one of those? It took them 8 years to pay all of the bills) Most people never believed we'd be paying $4 a gallon for gas. Or the rising cost of food.

Field trips are not necessities. Especially not $50 trips! It is quite possible to have a happy childhood with wonderful memories without an overpriced field trip... Teaching children that they need fancy entertainment to be happy is disservice at best. However, I am certainly glad your school has more compassion for people and their children than you have.

Yes, I understand situations come up. I am not totally oblivious to that. I am not saying that my husband and I are immune to that. What I AM saying is that KIDS COST MONEY!!!!!!!!!! Their EDUCATION COSTS MONEY! Are you really going to have your kid be the only one that doesn't go on the field trip?? Give me a break. I don't think they are necessities, but I do think they are important. Trust me, my kids don't have "fancy entertainment" and they are quite happy. But I do allow them to go on every field trip because I think that most of them are educational. I want my kids to have opportunities in life. Sorry, depriving them of fun field trips is not going to happen. Who says I don't have compassion for people???????? Obviously you are clueless as to what I do for a job.

 

[JeremyGNJ]

It's true, financial problems come on people. Hard times can come up unexpectedly (though I think more people should plan for them with proper savings than probably do)

However if you're in the situation where you're scraping by, and cannot afford a kid's field trip....then its just something that you accept you cannot afford due to your problems. You dont say that the school is wrong for it.

AND....if that's really your situation, the last place you should be spending your time is on a message board that revolves around taking vacations.

(I'm using "you" to describe "a person in that situation" i'm not addressing anyone directly cause I dont know anyone's financial situation)

 

[DisneyAprilFool]

It's true, financial problems come on people. Hard times can come up unexpectedly (though I think more people should plan for them with proper savings than probably do)

However if you're in the situation where you're scraping by, and cannot afford a kid's field trip....then its just something that you accept you cannot afford due to your problems. You dont say that the school is wrong for it.

AND....if that's really your situation, the last place you should be spending your time is on a message board that revolves around taking vacations.

(I'm using "you" to describe "a person in that situation" i'm not addressing anyone directly cause I dont know anyone's financial situation)

I'll say it- the school is wrong for asking $50 a head per student IF any of those students cannot attend the field trip due to the price.

It doesn't matter that MY kid could or would go. If for some reason, we did not have the $50- my kid WOULDN'T go. Life happens- you deal with it. Kids deal with it as well. I've dealt with staying back from expensive field trips- I'm sure there will be a day when I tell my kids, "Nope, we aren't doing that trip." Would the kid be upset? Sure- in the moment, they would be. Would it permanently scar them for life? Nope- they'll survive.

I'm not saying I can't AFFORD $50 for a trip- but I'm saying that trip better be pretty darn important and relevant to their education or else I wouldn't pay $50 for the trip.

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

If the only reason a child has a 'childhood' is due to expensive fieldtrips- there is an issue within the family unit- period. Field trips do not make one's childhood- a family that loves one another and is there for one another DOES.

I've heard many, many people who came from large families say that while they couldn't afford the 'extras' in life, they more then made up for it in the amount of family time spent together.

WOW!! Good thing I said that a good childhood revolves around field trip. Thanks for putting words in my mouth.

 

[JeremyGNJ]

I'll say it- the school is wrong for asking $50 a head per student IF any of those students cannot attend the field trip due to the price.

It doesn't matter that MY kid could or would go. If for some reason, we did not have the $50- my kid WOULDN'T go. Life happens- you deal with it. Kids deal with it as well. I've dealt with staying back from expensive field trips- I'm sure there will be a day when I tell my kids, "Nope, we aren't doing that trip." Would the kid be upset? Sure- in the moment, they would be. Would it permanently scar them for life? Nope- they'll survive.

I'm not saying I can't AFFORD $50 for a trip- but I'm saying that trip better be pretty darn important and relevant to their education or else I wouldn't pay $50 for the trip.

I dont really think that school field trips are as important for a child's "education" as it is important for a child's development in real world situations.

Sure they go over facts and history on a field trip, BUT when I think back to my own childhood field trips the memorable part is that it was an "experience". I got to go someplace fun with my friends, and not "need my parents". It kind of makes you feel a little more grown up. This kind of thing is just as important as education.

...and if a child cant afford to go...that teaches a real world lesson as well. That you cant always do what everyone else does.

 

[DisneyAprilFool]

I am not saying field trips are necessary, but come on, kids need a childhood and part of that is field trips. sorry, my opinion.......

Actually, YOU did say that kids need a childhood and part of having a childhood is having field trips- I didn't put those words into your mouth- you posted them all on your own. Don't know why you are rolling your eyes- if you didn't mean it, why did you post it?