Would you let your child go on this school trip?

They're not toddlers ffs

But if you knew your child would be a sobbing mess you just wouldn't send them. Doesn't mean other kids should miss out.

At that age even being up that late would be so exciting that you'd remember it forever. What a fantastic memory to create (if you can cover the late night and late start the next day!).

Yes! Wouldn't even occur to me to say no especially if he's genuinely interested in performing arts. He isn't going to die because he's a bit sleep deprived. My dd same age flew home from her summer holiday this year and landed at 01:30 the day she started back in September. She went to school and was absolutely fine. Part of the reason so many of us are so antisocial and isolated these days is because we don't seem to want to make ourselves the slightest bit uncomfortable for normal social experiences. If he wants to go then let him

Hmm my DCs both took part in evening shows occasionally from age 7 so I don't really see the issue. Yeah it's a PITA collecting them at midnight from school trips but that's something that happens even well into secondary school

Id definitely let them go

Incorrect, I did not say I would wake them up early

Let them go, so what if they're a bit tired next day? The fun & the experience and the being part of it with their classmates more than outweigh any temporary downsides. And unless a trip is literally unaffordable, I'd hate to be "that" parent who turns their child into the only one not going. No child wants to be singled out like that, on top of missing the trip.

YABU to not let your child go. One late night isn’t the end of the world.

You'd purposely make sure your 7 year old child had a bad night's sleep and wake them up early, even though you facilitated the late night? Wow.

Yes, if I knew they would be in safe hands, although I wouldn't let them sleep in too late the next day

Oh come on! If rhe child wants to go, let them go.
Everyone will be tired the next day yes, but what an adventure to talk about!
I'm all for established routines but do teach your kids how fun it is to break that routine every once in a while..

I hit the wrong button! I meant you’re not unreasonable - let them go!

I would say no because my 7 year old wouldn’t cope, she’s asleep by 8 and really struggles with late nights. Tbh her 4 year old sister would cope better.

@Bubblegirly

What is the ‘too late’ parent’s concerns?

I’d be irritated by the choice of evening rather than matinee, meaning a late night then grumpy, tired DC, but would agree to DC going.

You know your child. How will your child cope with a very late night and then in school for following day but starting later? What day of the week is the event taking place? If it's a Thursday, and then later into school on the Friday morning, that wouldn't be an issue, because your son will have the weekend to recover. However, if the event is a Monday night, back into school on the Tuesday starting later, but then still had 3 further school days to contend with, I'd be more wary. There's no right or wrong answer, it all really depends on your son.

It depends on the child, the majority would probably be fine and would be back to normal in a couple if days after 1 late night. One of mine had similar trips as they were in the choir in primary school and would go all over the country for comps. They were fine.
I do have a younger child who is autistic and my experience with him is that one late night will throw his routine and his mood for a couple of weeks.

Sounds like a great trip, and as someone said, she’ll likely sleep on the coach on the way home. If not, you will probably have a tired and grumpy little daughter the next day. So what? If she enjoyed the musical, it was worth it.
if you stop her going, she will undoubtedly be very upset. Ok, so that’s life, and you can’t have everything you want, but in my opinion, if it were my daughter, she would be going. I am, of course, assuming that you have checked the ratio of teachers/parents accompanying the children.
Are most of her drama friends going?

Is it more the older kids going? Because at 10yrs old (yr 5) my daughter could handle this a whole lot better than in yr 3

I’d say yes as a one off and I’m really strict about bedtimes. Sounds so fun!

Depends on the child. At 7 mine would have really struggled. But if they’ll be fine or just really want to go I’d let them!

As someone who's children missed out on so many of these kind of opportunities in primary due to COVID lockdowns - I would advocate for sending kids on every trip/experience/occasion that you can!

There are children leaving secondary school who have never been on these kind of trips because of the limitations lockdowns and then cost of living issues have caused.

I'm a "say yes" person - you're only young once and these sorts of treats can be magical

Please let them go!

Let them go!

Let your little person live! One late night isn’t going to harm them too much (unless, like one of my daughter’s friends, they suffer from migraines when they don’t get enough sleep, in which case you wouldn’t then be considering it so 🤷🏻‍♀️)