No phones on ski trip

[AreTheyMad]

DD is going on a ski trip with school next week. We've just been informed they won't be allowed to use their phones during the day, only for an hour in the evening.
Would you be happy with your DC not being allowed to take their phones on the slopes?

I think it's mad, and I'm trying to formulate a mail which doesn't sound over protective pub! It means they can't call if they get separated from the group, check the map, if they injure themselves. What if the visibility is bad? Am I overreacting here?

Ski school rarely stops for poor visibility. And it might have been clear when they set out but visibility can change very very quickly in the mountains.

Ski school rarely stops for poor visibility.

@MargoLivebetter it's not school policy - another class are allowed to take their phones.
@sittingonabeach its basically part of the curriculum for Yrs 7-9 where we live, you need a medical dispensation to get out of it. Parents pay £190 unless you qualify for a subsidised place.

Our DDs attended an independent senior school and ski trips certainly weren’t obligatory! I’ve never heard of such a thing.

A neighbour of ours teaches at an independent boys’ school and frequently takes groups on ‘adventure’ trips to various places abroad, inc. out of the way/fairly remote ones. On one such trip not long ago he told us that the boys were not allowed to take phones at all! And it wasn’t just because in some of the locations there would have been no reception.

Of course some of the parents kicked off, as well as the boys, but it was a case of ‘if you don’t like it, don’t go.’

Plenty went anyway.

You still have to consent! They can't forcibly drag your children kicking and screaming!!!!!

In that case, contact the school and ask why the rules are different for different classes.

More regulated but less fun.
These days teachers will be so terrified of being sued by helicopter parents for allowing their precious little one to eat bread that wasn’t artisan sourdough….its a wonder anyone volunteers to go!

Parents pay £190 unless you qualify for a subsidised place.

£190 is surely a subsidised place anyway...???

Teaching unions now advise teachers not to go on trips.

OP is not in the UK

I'm sorry but I still find it very hard to believe that this is a school in the UK.

You talk of it being part of the curriculum for Yrs 7-9 and having to pay £190.

I would guess that you are likely converting from maybe Euros or some other currency; parents are not paying in pounds for this.

Most people here live in the UK and have experience of UK schools. It would have been a lot more useful to any discussion if you had indicated that your DD is not in the UK.

People would then have been able to discuss how UK rules compare to the rules for whatever country you are situated in.

So, which country is your DDs school in?

What's your problem with "trainee" teachers (soon changed to a "friend" of a teacher I notice)? My DD went on a sixth form trip and was in a group with the daughter of her teacher supervising. I could make that sound bad if I had an agenda. Except the daughter was fluent in the language of the country they were visiting, had lived there for several years and was an expedition leader.

DS is going on an adventure school trip in June. A parent is supervising his group. Could just imply they're taking any old parent with them. The parent is expedition and outward bound trained, a DofE leader, has several outdoor qualifications and is a serving police officer. He's probably more qualified than the teacher going and is giving up his free time to help.

If you don't want your child to go, say so. It can't be obligatory.

We really struggle to get volunteers to go on trips, so much so that many just don't run now. The attitudes displayed by some parents on this thread are a big part of it. Who wants to deal with a parent who believes that the rules don't apply to their child?!

£190 - what a bargain!!!!!! It surely has to be something forces related - is it a military funded or sponsored school? I'd have fallen over myself to send the DC on a ski trip for £190. I might have even forgone their mobile phones (just joking)!

However, if one class are allowed phones and the other isn't, that doesn't even sound like consistent guidelines. Definitely worth asking why it is one rule for one group and one group for another. Also, I'd be checking that there is proper insurance in place and if the school are using qualified instructors. It is now starting to sound a bit weird @AreTheyMad .

I'm a teacher, so I'm usually very much on the side of "trust the teachers who have experience and training". I'm also very much against kids having access to phones for most of the day.

But your understanding of how the trip has been/will be run would make me very anxious. Groups of kids should absolutely not be going off piste by themselves even if everyone "agrees" (is steamrollered into it). Adults should only be on trip if they are employed by the school - either as a teacher or as a skilled professional. Kids should be closely supervised by competent adults at all times on the slopes.

Ultimately, if I didn't trust the judgement of the adults in charge, I wouldn't let my child on the trip. The phone would be providing a false sense of security if the situation actually were unsafe.

@Another2Cats I don't/ didn't really think that is relevant. A kid on a ski slope is a kid on a ski slope regardless of nationality.

Sorry not read through the whole thread but OP is think best to ask the school how they deal with risk on the slopes. Where are they going? In some countries it is is now illegal to be guiding a group of school children without the right qualifications. Some UK leading qualifications are no longer valid post Brexit unless you meet strict criteria. As a staff member I just wouldnt put myself in that position.

Otherwise I go on many school ski trips and we have never lost anyone. We have a local ski instructor and a member of staff with each group. Staff member usually brings up the rear. They all know what to do if something happens to one or both of the adults (they know where my phone is) and they all have piste maps and emergency cash. No skiing is allowed at any point without these two adults. The staff member takes pictures through the day and these are shared with parents and then deleted. Everyone is signed on and off the snow and then back into accommodation.

Ours are allowed phones and we have had lost phones, phones dropped off chairlifts, phones fallen out of pockets, some using phones to film others and then circulating in a potentially bullying way. Would be easier if they didn't have them.

I don't think your concern here is phones but rather how the group is led and looked after on the snow.

This!

@BlackRowan Google is not your friend, because it's raking up almost 20 year old stories! Even the most recent one is 15 years old. 😆

You're not supporting your own argument very well! 😬

.

FGS - aniother parent wanting to make the rules different for their child. Kids are on their phones for hours and hours a day. They arent doing anything useful. Its catching up on Facebook etc. They dont NEED to respond immediately to any of that shite!

Or of course dont allow her to go but please dont think the rules are for others to follow.

This is correct. If half of what OP says about staff supervision etc. is correct, then kids having/not having mobile phones should be the least of your worries.

As an aside, kids not having phones on well organised trips is excellent and should be the norm. Schools will be clamping down on phones a lot more moving forward given the pushback in society.

Not really.

The UK system is really different. They took the word safe guarding and made it into religion, with all the positives and negatives. And, they took the word insurance and made the insurance conditions a de-facto law.

Many of your examples are incompatible with UK way of thinking about school trips.

I'm from central Europe.
I would understand the school doesn't want children to mess around with phones, get DC a calling watches and send them over.

Edit to add: I'm not judging UK system. I'm using this analogies to help clarify why the thread doesn't work. I suppose it feels to the OP as people digging into irrelevant details, while people are trying to u pick why it doesn't make sense to them.

@AreTheyMad different countries have different attitudes to risk. Children in Switzerland walking to school alone aged 4/5. Children in England only allowed from Y6 .

I would be asking why different rules for different classes.

Stop being ridiculous.

No. The advice and comments are from people understanding that it was a UK school, knowing risk assessments and rules for school trips. If it is in another country we have no idea of the way the trip will be run. All our comments would be different then

I think no phones sounds great! I don't ski with mine. If she's happens to get separated or lost then there will be many people around to help her get back to where she needs to go.