High School Senior Trips?

[DVCLiz]

What's your experience? Did your teens take any sort of "senior" trip? Was it for Spring Break, or after the school year ended? With or without chaperones? Did you pay for it, or make them? Did their friends go, but you didn't let yours?

I'm interested in real-life experience, so please don't answer by saying, "My child is only six, but I'd never let..." or "I think it's every student's right to fly to Cancun and party down!" And obviously, the Aruba/Natalee Holloway situation is sad, but it won't keep every student from ever travelling again, so I'd like to try and keep it out fo the discussion.

Many thanks!!!

 

[Sandy V.]

Dropping in because I'm interested in any responses to this. My daughter is a senior this year and wants to go somewhere in the U.S. with a couple of girlfriends after school gets out for a couple of days. (We already told her that she wasn't going anywhere with her boyfriend or a mixed group of boys/girls!).

I have to admit that I am really unsure about this idea. I also wonder how on earth they can even rent a hotel room, etc. given their ages (18). But it may not even come to fruition, since she hasn't saved any money for this shindig, and DH and I already told her that we would NOT be financing this trip or any spring break trips in college. If she wants to do this badly enough, she can fork over the cash for it. That's why I haven't said anything about this for several months and neither has she - she hasn't yet figured out how to financially distinguish between a "want" and a "need"; hence, she's always out of dough.

When I was a senior back in the Stone Age, the entire class took a day trip to Kansas City to Worlds of Fun. We had fundraisers to raise the money. But there was no way that my folks would have financed any individual or group thing far from home.

These trips are just so different than when I was a teen!! But I've found that DD's friends seem to be a lot of "talk" about taking them, and then things never really come to fruition. They're not real good at planning ahead.

 

[baby1038]

When I was a senior in High School (graduated in 1999) we went to Disney World for our senior class trip . I believe the cost was around $600. I never went to senior week (the week after graduation). Everyone around here goes to Ocean City Maryland for a week of partying.

~Michelle

 

[Kitty 34]

My DS's NHS group took a "senior" trip to New York last spring but it was chaperoned and a lot was planned to keep them busy. Also, my DS accompanied us on our cruise to Mexico during Spring break.

So far (I still have a sophomore) none of my boys have gone on a trip with just a few guys when they were seniors.

 

[Stephanie218]

After graduation I went to Disney for a week with my boyfriend. We paid for the entire thing except the limo to the hotel because my dad wanted to be nice

I also went to Cape Cod for a long weekend with 2 girl friends...that was a little more complicated, actually. We were only 18, and most hotels we wanted to stay at on the Cape were 21+ to rent, and our parents weren't driving 3 hours to check us into a hotel So we ended up staying a a pretty cheap motel thing, but hey, we got to go to the beach!

As long as your kids are responsible, I know my parents wouldn't have a problem with it. I had planned everything, so my parents knew where I was all the time. They're going to college in the fall anyway, so it's just as good to get the experience traveling without parents and dealing with everything (reservations, bills) yourself.

The one reservation I would personally have is trips to Mexico or anything..some of my friends have done them, but I've heard pretty sketchy stories. I'm at ASU right now, and my dad really doesn't want me driving down to Mexico on the weekends for safety issues. Even my boyfriend's roommate who is from there talks about how unsafe it is.

 

[Blueeyes101817]

In my senior year, i went on our senior trip with my class...i believe it was about 700 dollars and my parents paid for that as part of my graduation gift--i paid for food and anything i spent while i was there...

 

[mrsmom]

My dd senior honors class went to Chicago for 4 days. I paid 400.00 for it all.

Kim

 

[monarchsfan16]

My school didn't do senior trips. Some kids did go to Cancun over April vacation, and there were a lot of friends (like 2 girls would go) that went with one kid's parents somewhere tropical that same vacation week. But the spring break rage hasn't quite made it to NH yet in the high school crowd. As a graduation gift (probably because they knew they wouldn't use the points themselves) my mom and stepdad offered to get some of my friends and me a place at one of the RCI resorts since they have a timeshare, and completely trust my friends and me. But RCI won't let people under 21 stay alone, so the trip ended up being my mom, sister, my best friend, and me. We spent a few days up in northern NH (nothing big since we live in southern NH). We also took a trip to WDW as a family the April vacation of my senior year, and although my stepdad says it's because we had the DVC points, my mom was planning on going even before they bought DVC

 

[Saphire]

Do you mean senior trips that are somehow connected with the school? Perhaps it is a regional thing, but here in our area of Massachusetts there is no such thing. I do not understand the purpose of such trips, and have only heard and read negative things about them. If traveling on their own, most hotels and cruises do not allow 17-21 year olds to book rooms, (some say you must be 25), and there is a reason for that. Few good things happen when teens travel in large groups.

 

[KelNottAt]

When I was a senior in High School (graduated in 1999) we went to Disney World for our senior class trip . I believe the cost was around $600. I never went to senior week (the week after graduation). Everyone around here goes to Ocean City Maryland for a week of partying.

~Michelle

This is the way it was waaaay back in my day, too. (1982) Even the part about the (excessive) OC partying was true in the dark ages.

 

[Blueeyes101817]

Also, on our senior trip---We had a bunch of chaperones--mostly teachers that we had throughout high school...We didnt really have any trouble on our trip--just 2 guys missed curfew one night..

We were allowed to do whatever we wanted during the d ay, then usually would meet for a group dinner or activity at night and could do anything we wanted til curfew at 11...by that time, we were all tired anyways since we got up early for the buses to take us places...

 

[DVCLiz]

Do you mean senior trips that are somehow connected with the school? Perhaps it is a regional thing, but here in our area of Massachusetts there is no such thing. I do not understand the purpose of such trips, and have only heard and read negative things about them. If traveling on their own, most hotels and cruises do not allow 17-21 year olds to book rooms, (some say you must be 25), and there is a reason for that. Few good things happen when teens travel in large groups.

No, not connected to the school - just a group of kids going to a resort or beach. For example, there's a group possibly going to a resort in the Bahamas - you must be 16 in order to stay there without an adult. The purpose of the trip is to have fun and celebrate the end of high school.

DD had a chance to go on this trip, but I felt very iffy about it. Luckily, she's decied not to, and so have her friends. I say luckily because now I won't have to make the bad-guy decision (which, of course, I would have done if I'd needed to!) But she and a few friends want to go SOMEWHERE for spring break. I don't really have any problem with them going to the beach if they can find a nice, safe place to stay at their age. It's funny, at first I was a "you need a chaperone" parent - I thought I was the only one. Now DD and I have discussed it and I'm OK with her going without an adult, but her friends' moms seem to all want one!!! So I don't really know what they will do - I've told them I'll take them somewhere as a last resort!!!!!

 

[SPAM]

last year when i was senior we had a senior trip. every year the seniors in my school all go to cedar point for the day. its a school day, but after the seniors last day. we have buses to tranport us. we live about 3 hours away. It was one of the most fun days of my life. Because it was all of my friends and me right before graduation. the only bad part was that i was wearing a spaghetti strap shirt and i got burned hard-core. lets jsut say, right before prom. and my sunburn did not match my red dress.

 

[minniecarousel]

ugh! I hate the Senior Trip thing! We have no school-sponsored trips. The kids get together as groups and go to: Hawaii, Mexico or somewhere else. My older DS went with a large group of guys to Southern California - they rented a house on the beach. I let him go because a 21 year-old went as a chaperone (to have a responsible adult - so I thought!) duh! They had the 21 year-old along to buy the beer!!

Younger DS had a group of frineds go to Hawaii. I wouldn't let him go because no adult was going - so I ended up paying for one buddy and he to go to Disneyland for a few days.

I'm not a big fan of the Senior Trip!

 

[dopeys biggest fan]

I didn't go anywhere with friends on our own and our lame highschool senior class trip was a ride on the circle line at night.

 

[Chipperdini]

My senior class (Ohio) went on a local, fall semester weekend retreat, and a week-long trip to Toronto (by bus, last week of school). Both trips were school-sponsored, teacher-chaperoned and paid for with class funds. There were approximately 40 students in my class. We had an itinerary with mandatory events as well as optional events, and a strict curfew. The school's code of conduct was in effect at all times, and had there been any violations, students would have been sent home at parents' expense. There were no problems.

 

[christineann]

Many high schools do not sanction or condone senior trips anymore for liability reasons. A travel rep for one of the senior trip companies came to our graduation committee meeting and gave us his pitch.....all inclusive, including liquor, which is good so the kids probably won't go off the resort (Punta Cana) to drink. I was pretty surprised at the number of parents who thought that was a great idea...."they are going to drink, so let's send them somewhere they can't get in legal trouble for doing it"

My son had no interest in even going to the organizational meeting. At his suggestion, he and his sister and I took a family trip and had a fantastic time. We will do the same this summer when his sister graduates high school. I think the day trips to theme parks are good ideas for a senior trip. In three months they will be off to college, and most will have matured past the high school stage even in that short time. FWIW, that's just my opinion.

 

[Chipperdini]

No, not connected to the school - just a group of kids going to a resort or beach.

Oops, didn't notice this. Sorry 'bout that. Disregard my previous comments.

Until the Internet, I'd never even heard of young people taking non-school-sponsored or non-church-sponsored trips. Just wasn't done in my area, I guess, so I have nothing further to contribute.

 

[antmaril]

My son graduated from high school last year. The school did not have any kind of sponsored senior trip. There is no way I would EVER allow him to take a trip with just kids (e.g. Cancun, Bahamas, etc.). I started telling him when he was about 12, that as long as I was taking a breath, it would never happen.

Anytime we would see something about these trips on tv, he would say "I know Mom, not as long as you are taking a breath."

He never asked to go on any kind of trip like this. When he graduated, we surprised him with a trip to Las Vegas to see his favorite group, The Wallflowers, at the House of Blues. He was thrilled and we all had a good time.

I just want to be clear. I trust my son. He was an honor student and has never given us one minute of trouble. However, kids will be kids. They make stupid, impulsive decisions. They don't think things through and this is how bad things happen. I was not willing to take that chance.

IMHO, parents today are afraid to say no. I feel it is my job to keep him safe and make the hard decisions.

Obviously, you can't control everything. However, this is one thing that was not negotiable in our house.

Just my two cents, of course.

 

[momsgonwild]

My oldest DS went on an organized senior trip with the school. A couple of weeks after graduation, he also went on a trip to South Padre with seven of his friends. They found a condo owner that would rent to them with parent consent to be responsible for any costs or damages incurred to the property.
I don't know about the others, but my son paid for all his own expenses. He actually got a job to earn money for this trip. The other parents and I came to the same realization that in just a couple of months our eighteen year olds would be going off to college, making decisions on their own, responsible for their own actions. We sat down with our teens and talked about responsibilities, consequences, etc. It was a long week with many phone calls to check up on them. Believe me, this was one of this hardest things I have ever done, but I had to trust him to open his wings and try to fly solo.
Now that being said, South Padre is eight hours from home. I probably would have objected to a trip out of state, and definitely would have objected to anything out of the country. Freedom and trust starts in small increments!