But were you also in the park?
Yes. Same as the chaperones in the OP's scenario.
But were you also in the park?
Knowing your daughter's primary concern, if you were attending as a chaperone would you be the decision maker in what the kids do for the day?
Not at all. My daughter has trouble speaking up for herself, so I think she thinks that just my presence will encourage her friend not to run all over her.
DD was much like your child, OP. She had a very vocal, strong willed BFF and dd is a "pleaser" by nature. But honestly, me NOT being with her is what finally got her to speak up to her friend and let her know what she wanted.
This is life handing her the perfect opportunity to get experience navigating those situations for herself.
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.
I may have a different view on this because I am not a parent, but I don't get the big deal about the chaperones. I've gone on plenty of school trips in late elementary, middle and high school where there were very few chaperones for many kids and we were allowed to go on our own around Six Flags, Chicago, etc.
It's a public location. The school district and the private school have no say in whether anyone (parent or otherwise) are also there.Please do not just show up. This is very frowned upon with our public school district and the private school i work for.
I think shoney knows that, she is just saying it's frowned upon. We had the same problem in the kids school. Almost every mother wanted to chaperone, it got so bad the school had to go to a lottery system. Then the mothers would show up any way. The school asked them not to, but it's obvious you can't prohibit them. I don't remember this ever being a problem years ago, people followed the rules then.It's a public location. The school district and the private school have no say in whether anyone (parent or otherwise) are also there.
OK, I get that. But, as a mother, if my child needs the mental crutch of knowing that one of us (dad or mom) is nearby (not as a chaperone, or participating with the child) in order to enjoy his/her day, I'm going to make myself available.I think shoney knows that, she is just saying it's frowned upon. We had the same problem in the kids school. Almost every mother wanted to chaperone, it got so bad the school had to go to a lottery system. Then the mothers would show up any way. The school asked them not to, but it's obvious you can't prohibit them. I don't remember this ever being a problem years ago, people followed the rules then.