Chaperones at theme park

[PrincessShmoo]

22 parents. TWENTY TWO!! To what scary place, that so many parents wanted to attend, did we go? The federal courthouse, city hall, 9-1-1 dispatch center, and the county jail!

Yeah, well, I can see that some parents might be interested in visiting those places themselves. But, that's a little too much supervision.

 

[Westcoastwild]

I actually think this is why she is so uncomfortable (if age matters she is 12). I was supposed to chaperone for the trip, along with several other parents, but they forgot to tell us that we needed to have fingerprints done in order to go and it is now too late for any of us to get it done (I went to the sheriff's office and asked). There will only be three chaperones total for their entire 7th and 8th grade class, and they are the teachers. There was a really huge breakdown in communication between the teachers, administration, and parents. She may be nervous because they told her there were all these chaperones, and now all the sudden there are only teachers.

Have you asked the school board or administration to clarify the required chaperone to student ratio for such a trip?

I don't know if it was because I was at a private school or not but in that situation they would either draft more teachers or move the date of the trip. That's a LOT of kids for 3 chaperones. Complain and the trip will probably be delayed or they will miraculously find more chaperones. Surprised a heliocopter parent hasn't already done that.

But no, don't show up unless the school gives you permission. Not cool.

 

[PollyannaMom]

DS did a similar trip in 8th grade. He had been to the particular, smallish park once before, so he felt OK about his ability to get around, and I did not chaperone. He had a good time.

 

[Turn the Page]

This thread is relatively timely for me. DD11's class field trip is coming up next week. They are going to a museum and living village type thing downstate. It is an overnight trip. In one of my weaker moments I agreed to chaperone. Apparently the student to chaperone ration is roughly 2 to 1.

The kids have to be with their chaperones at all times, they aren't allowed to wander without an adult at all, not even to the bathroom. I think this is because these sites are not as enclosed as a theme park.

All the chaperones did have to have a background check done though we didn't have to get our fingerprints taken and frankly, I'm not at all sure they are worth much. The mother of one of DD's classmates was released from prison a few years ago for a few drug crimes and she asked the principal then if she could volunteer in the school and the principal told her to try again in a couple of years. I think legally people are supposed to have records clean of any crimes involving children but I really don't know why someone that was in prison for drug charges should be allowed to volunteer at the school.

 

[monsterkitty]

We just took our 8th grade class to the local 6 Flags. Teachers only, no parents. We had 150 students with 9 teachers. Once in the park we showed the kids where we were parking our stuff and we let them loose. Some of us roamed or rode rides while others stayed at the meeting spot. The kids had a blast and so did we!

There was one school there that made the kids stay with the chaperones at all times and they all had to ride the rides. 30 kids would go up to the ride with the chaperone and 30 kids would have to get in line. Don't do spin rides? You have to any way because it was the rules. One of the teachers told me that next year they would be letting the kids loose like we did. Something about some kids and their stomachs don't do to well on all rides.

That's a terrible sign for the attention to detail of those that would be chaperoning. Are they really going to be attentive to what they need to be doing when they couldn't even be bothered to notify parents of the need to be finger printed? And with just three of them for an entire group of 7th and 8th graders, my 12 year old would not be going under those conditions.

This may not have been the school's fault. A few years ago, our state changed the rules on chaperones needing background checks but the state failed to disclose this change to the schools. More than one school district was not complying with the new rule because no one knew about it. We did have one parent show up at the park, it is a public place after all, because she wanted to hang out with her DD and her friends. This is a mother who would NOT pass the background check but there was nothing we could do about it other than watch her closely the entire time. Yes, one of us always stalked the group because that's how we roll.

 

[luvsJack]

This thread is relatively timely for me. DD11's class field trip is coming up next week. They are going to a museum and living village type thing downstate. It is an overnight trip. In one of my weaker moments I agreed to chaperone. Apparently the student to chaperone ration is roughly 2 to 1.

The kids have to be with their chaperones at all times, they aren't allowed to wander without an adult at all, not even to the bathroom. I think this is because these sites are not as enclosed as a theme park.

All the chaperones did have to have a background check done though we didn't have to get our fingerprints taken and frankly, I'm not at all sure they are worth much. The mother of one of DD's classmates was released from prison a few years ago for a few drug crimes and she asked the principal then if she could volunteer in the school and the principal told her to try again in a couple of years. I think legally people are supposed to have records clean of any crimes involving children but I really don't know why someone that was in prison for drug charges should be allowed to volunteer at the school.

Well it is entirely possible that she has changed her life. The principal telling her to try again in a couple of years would give it time to tell.