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?

It makes me wonder sometimes, how did wrever manage without mobile phones? And yet up until about 25 years ago, we did! There were loads of public telephones in those days, of course - not very many of them around nowadays. So yes, a mobile has become a pretty essential item to carry around with you.

I'm very intrigued on where you are by your comment about a risk assessment.
I've helped on many trips (not skiing) and there is always a risk assessment done.

This is brilliant. They’ll actually be talking to each other and enjoying the real world rather than being on their phones. If you’re genuinely worried about safety, looking into a gps watch, the kind people use for hiking etc. But it’s so important for kids to be getting off their phones and actually experiencing the world. If she gets lost she can ask someone for help.

Has anyone at the school even been to the ski resort? A lot of resorts use QR codes extensively. And why would they not want a kid to have a satellite SOS device on their person?

So many people here seem to be stuck in the past. You know what would be a good idea- teach kids how to use phones sensibly to enhance travel, and stop pretending it’s 1999.

Complete over reaction. If she gets hurt / separated / there is bad visibility the ski resort will have procedures in place to manage this. She absolutely won’t need her phone and should spend the time embracing the skiing. If she wants photos … send her with a disposable camera.

Your location (which you still haven't revealed) is entirely relevant to the discussion. If you were from the UK, there would be no way that your child would be skiing unsupervised or with an unqualified adult, and nor would they be skiing off-piste without all of the necessary equipment (and training in how to use it).

A kid on a slope is not just "a kid on a slope" if one is being closely supervised to the highest degree by instructors and teachers while the other is with an unqualified adult who is happy to go with the wishes of the majority. The latter is sadly how many skiing accidents happen.

If the OP had revealed her location and other drip-fed info in the first post, this thread would have been about 3 pages long, if that.

The DD is aged 11-14 and should not be going anywhere on a piste without someone else being with her, and one of the cardinal rules of off-piste skiing is that you never ski alone and only go off-piste with the right equipment.

Nationality and country norms are irrelevant - I live in the Alps and the local children have these rules drummed into them from an early age.

Assuming that the phone actually still works, it is useless if she's trapped under 2 metres of snow, unable to move and with a survival time of just a few minutes. One cubic metre of hard-packed avalanche snow can weigh over 200kg - the impact alone can kill people (or cause severe injuries that result in death) long before they actually asphyxiate.

Trust the school's judgement on this, they've done many ski trips before. A lost phone in the snow would be a nightmare. They'll be in small supervised ability matched groups and absolutely do not need phones.

I get why you’re concerned but I would just get her an air tag or similar - you could even sew it into her ski suit and then there’s no risk of her losing it on the slopes.

I firmly support a ban on phones during school trips. There is no need for children to have them. They are in the care of the school and I’m sure will be enabled to contact you if there’s an issue.

My daughter was relentlessly bullied, by phone by girls on a residential school trip (that she wasn’t on). Multiple highly unpleasant and abusive calls, texts and voicemail messages every day until I contacted the school and alerted them and sent them transcripts of the messages.

Ever since that event, 8 years ago, phones have been banned from school trips at that school.

They are more likely to lose or break their phone on a ski slope than they are to be able to use it. Our school did ski trips 20 years ago, no-one had a phone, no-one got injured or lost because of the lack of one. They will be closely supervised. YABU.

Beacons, air tags, GPS things, Apple watches, RECCO reflectors etc ...

The most useful items to take on the piste are a paper map (and the ability to read it) and a whistle, preferably an old-fashioned referee's whistle, and the knowledge that "three blasts on a whistle" is the international signal for "I need help!" A whistle blast carries far further than a voice, is simple to operate and it doesn't run out of battery.

@Littlefish I had the exact opposite experience. DD was relentlessly bullied by her dorm mates on a residential school trip when phones were banned. Had she had access to a phone she could have let me know and I would have taken it up with the school. As it was she endured 5 days of sheer misery! By the time it was sorted out afterwards, with all sorts of apologies from the teachers and the girls and all the rest of it, the trip was still ruined for DD.

How did your DD let you know about the bullying on her school trip and send you the transcripts?

Dd had the same rule on her school ski trip. It was fine. She actually did get separated when she broke her arm. She was still fine the medics took her to the clinic and called the school teachers via the ski school and the hotel to let them know she was fine. There was lots of help in the form of resort staff all over the slopes.

Skiing with a Mobile phone is more likely to get her hurt!

It’s not like she’ll be conquering the wilderness by herself. She will have staff, mountain staff, friends around and the slopes will be busy. I went skiing with school way before kids had phones and I was fine. In fact I did hurt myself, several times, by repeatedly dislocating my knees (never skiied since!) I always had help and always knew where I was. Still alive 30 years later. I’m sorry but you are being completely unreasonable.

Would you be happy with your DC not being allowed to take their phones on the slopes?
I'd be over the moon to be honest!

This..its not necessary. Just makes teachers jobs more difficult

She was at home with me, not on the school trip. After 3 days of abuse she told me about it. I listened in to one of the calls, read the texts, listened to the answerphone messages and then took action.

I’m so sorry your daughter was bullied while she was away.

Nobody needs a phone to go skiing!
They won't get lost.

I would usually agree that you are over reacting but on both school.ski trips that I have accompanied the instructors lost one of our kids on the mountain.

I have always said I wouldn't let my kids go after being on one as staff.

They took children off piste, without a guide but with a friend of a member of staff?

Either you are making this up or you need to take her out of this school now.

'Would you be happy with your DC not being allowed to take their phones on the slopes?' The horror!

I'd rather be laughed out of the building than let my child take a risk. Sounds like you need to go and speak to the school to see what's what.

As you don't say where you are it's difficult to measure risks and what to do as this is generally for ppl based in the UK so it's hard to see your view.

In many ski areas the Wi-Fi reception is poor or non existent. Mobile phones are useless until you are down in the resort