Field trips for pre-schoolers -- am I overreacting?

[KelnRon]

I don't think preschoolers need fieldtrips at all. They are only in school a few hours a week. Bring programs to the school.

I agree! My daughter just turned 4 & is not in preschool until next year but I would not be comfortable with that at all! Heck my then 10 year old had a choir function at a mall that was 45-50 min away in December! I didn't let him go! There were several malls in our area and I have no idea why they made them go that far w/ snow on the roads. I found out afterwards that I wasn't the only parent not to send their child.

 

[saraheliz]

Safety issues aside, who in their right mind would want to be stuck on a bus full of 3 year olds who are not buckled into their seats for an hour?? Not me!

Seriously, though, our preschool does field trips (more in the 4yo class) but parents have to drive or give consent for another parent to drive their child.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Preschool director here.....We do 3 or so trips a year and parents or grandparents drive their own child in their own car seats. I would not be ok with preschoolers unrestrained on a bus for that long on a highway.

If you choose not to send her, consider allowing her to spend the say with a grandparent or family friend. It would be hard to see her friends leave and have to stay back. This is not an option at our school. Kids go or stay home that day.

 

[scottish mum]

I am really shocked that school buses aren't fitted with seat belts . In our school authority any vehicle that carries school children of any age must be fitted with seat belts.

As we live in a tiny village sometimes the trips are made in teachers cars, in the morning you see all teh parenst arriving with the carseats and tying them into the cars.

 

[RMulieri]

I really wouldn't give it a second thought. 4-6 times a year is not much. I would be glad they are taking the kids out to experience new things. If they were taking these trips weekly that would be a bit much. Don't make him stay behind to play in the baby room. All his friends will come back talking about how much fun they had. Think about the statistics on fatal bus crashes compared to the number of children who ride buses daily in this country and then think about your poor son sitting in a room with the babies, sad that all his friends are out somewhere fun without him.

I agree..My daughter has been going on a bus and field trips since age 3..The ONLY time I went with was to the Baltimore Aquarium..That was almost a 2 hr drive from here and a very busy place.NONE Of our school busses have seatbelts

 

[delmar411]

I really wouldn't give it a second thought. 4-6 times a year is not much. I would be glad they are taking the kids out to experience new things. If they were taking these trips weekly that would be a bit much. Don't make him stay behind to play in the baby room. All his friends will come back talking about how much fun they had. Think about the statistics on fatal bus crashes compared to the number of children who ride buses daily in this country and then think about your poor son sitting in a room with the babies, sad that all his friends are out somewhere fun without him.

I agree 100%.

As a parent your job is to accurately assess the risks for your child. You putting him in the car each day is more dangerous than his trip on the school bus, yet you do that w/o a 2nd thought. So yes, you are overreacting.

 

[luvmesometigger]

My daughter's Pre K has about 3-4 field trips a year. However, no transportation is provided. A parent/guardian drives them to the place and stays and then takes them home. There is no school that day.

Her school is 3s, 4s and Kindie.

From my own personal experience, I would not be comfortable putting her on a school bus with no seat belts. My 10 y.o. 5th grader rides the bus every day to school. And wears a seat belt. This past October, the bus driver sped up to make a light, hit a dip in the road and my son hurt his back. And he was buckled in a seat belt at the time. He actually missed a day of school and had to have an XRay done of his back. There is no way I would put my barely 40 pound 5 year old on a bus for an hour with no seat belts.

JMO.

 

[dhardawa]

School buses are completely safe for school age children. They are designed for kids in grades K-12, NOT preschoolers. The only way to safely transport a preschooler on a bus is by using a child restraint or riding on a bus that has a five point restraint system.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/buses/guide1999/prekfinal.htm

 

[sunshineNJ]

NO!! You are NOT being over protective. These buses are not made for 3 year olds. 3 year old children NEED to be in car seats!!! I have been a preschool teacher for many years and our activities are all at school. I would never have let either of my children on a bus without a car seat at that age. You have to listen to your get insticts.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

having worked in daycare, there were a coiuple of times we had to call a parent to come for child that was not allowed to go on trip. one time because of rules had no room in younger kids room that day. another time child was so upset child was not able to be left in room and spent a couple of hours in office until mother could make other arrangements for child. i would keep using vacation days to go along or have the child spend that day somewhere else. daycare is different than preschool even though it is called preschool class. yes even babies,6 weeks and older, can be ther up 10 hours per day. think parent working 8 hour with up to an hour each way to travel. but even so where i have worked on one under 4 could ride the bus.

 

[thegreggersmom]

Hi all -- OP here. Thanks so much for all the input! I've decided that he won't be riding the bus and I will either drive him there or make other arrangements so he's not at school that morning. I really do appreciate all the opinions!

 

[crisi]

I am really shocked that school buses aren't fitted with seat belts . In our school authority any vehicle that carries school children of any age must be fitted with seat belts.

As we live in a tiny village sometimes the trips are made in teachers cars, in the morning you see all teh parenst arriving with the carseats and tying them into the cars.

That's unusual. In most cases its seen as safer to not have the kids in seat belts since its easier to evacuate the bus in an emergency than the safety improvement of having them buckled in. Little kids can't unbuckle themselves well - even elementary school age children might not do it when panicked, and one adult wouldn't be able to unbuckle sixty children quickly if the accident started a fire or the bus landed in water.

 

[Disney_1derland]

When our dd's daycare had field trips, they used the daycare vans. We all brought our kids' carseats and put them in the vans that day. I've never heard of a daycare using a school bus.

Here in TN, daycares are required to have buses, so this is very common where we are. To the OP, If you are not comfortable, don't let him go. That being said, I have sent my 4 year old on a bus ride field trip and he had such a blast riding the 'big kids bus' that I never looked back. he's been on 3 this year. I'm probably one of the most over protective parents we know, but this one doesn't bother me at all.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

That's unusual. In most cases its seen as safer to not have the kids in seat belts since its easier to evacuate the bus in an emergency than the safety improvement of having them buckled in. Little kids can't unbuckle themselves well - even elementary school age children might not do it when panicked, and one adult wouldn't be able to unbuckle sixty children quickly if the accident started a fire or the bus landed in water.

It's not just that, school buses that do have seatbelts generally only have lap belts which have a high rate of internal injuries, including those that can cause death. Slamming into the padded seat in front of you, while not ideal, is safer than having that knife line of pressure across your internal organs.

 

[teacup princess]

Personal preference I guess, but I think 3 is really too young to go on that many field trips, especially far away ones. I would just not be comfortable with that unless I were going along. The child will live through the trauma of all his/her friends talking about a trip that he/she didn't get to go on. I actually think it's good for a child to learn at a young age that not every situation in life is fair or equal but that we make choices for ourselves that we feel are right at the time. I might feel differently if it were some activity that my child would never get to experience unless it was through the school, but we've been to plenty of petting zoos, aquarium, museums, ect. I don't think he'd miss out.