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?

They will be in small groups with ski instructors, they won’t be able to get separated from the group or lost, certainly no need to be checking maps. There is a risk of losing the phone though if it gets dropped in the snow!

No, they won't. Read all of the OP's updates.

And the fact that the OP was perfectly happy with this arrangement until she found out her DD won’t be allowed to have her phone during the day shows it has nothing to do with risk. How will her daughter be at risk?

There are about 5 black runs in the whole of the nordics, assuming that’s where she’s based. The dramatic scenarios some posters have come up with really aren’t likely to be an issue.

My 5yo has just spent the day in ski school and he doesn’t have a mobile phone. He was fine and I’m sure your teenager will be too.

My B-in-l has an app on his phone that triggers an alert to if caught in an avalanche or he can activate if he gets hurt so he can be found. If they are on the slopes with their trainer then I should think he would have similar. There is really no need for them to use them on the slopes unless there is an Emergency, but the trainer/supervisor should be, as I said, have this in hand. & why can’t kids learn something like socialising that doesn’t need a bloody phone?

Happy for her tween to go off piste without an instructor but unhappy she will do so without a phone...

Yes but why? It’s just odd to be with your mates on a super fun ski holiday yet want to phone home every evening. Sorry - but how much is this helicopter parenting?

Oh no, how did we survive on school trips in the 80's without phones? Don't be so feeble, your kid will be fine

Yes. UABU Ski trips have been a thing since way before mobile phones

I went on a school ski trip when I was 14 before mobile phones were really mainstream.
It was great fun, we didn’t lose anyone or take a wrong turns, we had two teachers with us and a guide. I honestly would worry too much, if you’re concerned about her safety get her to wear a watch with gps

It’s very Black Mirror, isn’t it

lol optimism bias. My daughter was locked in the changing rooms at school and if she hadn’t have had her phone I would not have known until I got back at 6pm and seen she wasn’t home.

I might respect the puritanical anti-phone stance if it wasn’t for the fact that the adults arguing in favour of it are so attached to their phones they are arguing with strangers as a pastime.

So many thoughts about this one OP but my honest response, like so many others before me, is she'll be fine without it.

I grew up in a country where skiing was basically the national sport and was very common in the winter to have a designated afternoon once a week where the kids all went skiing instead of school. The school would make use of the local ski school and we'd be separated into groups according to ability with a qualified ski instructor as well as one school teacher to each group. I'm not quite harking back to 30 years ago like some people, more like 10 and we did have phones but never used them on the mountain because there was never the need or time! But trust me when I say, schools start them with children as young as six who presumably don't have phones and they all come back in one piece! Also, by six, a lot of them aren't actually complete beginners so actually ski down as opposed to the complete beginner slopes. I promise you, even with a more relaxed approach as some countries have, no one ever go lost!

Now, I'm assuming as an English school trip away they won't all be Chemmy Alcott/Dave Ryding type ability and neither will the school teachers going with them. So, my guess is they'll be split into ability level with local trained ski instructors and, like my school did, do a tag team skiing with the ski instructor at the front leading the way and the school teacher bringing up the rear like a mother/father duck with their ducklings. No one is likely to go the wrong way and if they did, they stop so often down the slope that it wouldn't take long before someone realised and went to the rescue! I know it's difficult when it's not the culture we are used but if the parents of other european countries can happily wave their six year olds off for an afternoon of snowy fun without phones then if you want her to go, you may just have to grit your teeth and bare it.

Personally, I'm arguing with strangers on a laptop right now...

It's half-term so I'm watching the Olympics and arguing with strangers.

Yes you’re overreacting. Don’t be THAT parent and email the school. Ask for reassurance that’s fine but let your child go and enjoy the experience and independence.

Though if any posters are currently on the slopes and posting - cease and desist!!

1 hr a day? Count yourself lucky lol

I agree... It's so hard to let go as a parent!

My kiddo's school banned smart phones so that was damn difficult... Then, on a recent trip they were allowed phones up until they stepped off the plane and then when they next got on the plane for the return journey. I had not heard a peep from my dc for an entire week. It was a "These are the rules; if we need to report something, we'll be in touch. You don't like, kid doesn't come on trip"

The kids were fine and fully immersed in whether they were doing rather than thinking about who said what in some whatsapp chat; encouraged to write in a journal and to talk to each other. As parents we had full confidence in the teachers.

School trips are planned and organised in minute detail . It is unlikely that your daughter will find herself on her own on some random black run in a blizzard.

Time to teach your DD how to be safe without a phone:

• know her location and address of where she’s staying
• tell her to take a map in her pocket
• arrange a meet up point each day if she gets lost
• tell her who to approach or contact for help if needed.

It’s just basic safety and would take a 10 minute conversation with her.

Kids who rely on phones for safety are the ones who get in trouble in the outdoors - because they have no idea what to do in an emergency if their phones don’t work!

They're school kids they'll be kept in groups and won't need phones whilst on ski slopes. They're likely to get damaged or lost if they take them whilst actually skiing then the school is stuck with a bunch of parents complaining that their kids phones are wrecked.I'm sure your child will message you from the accommodation when they get back. I know when my son went to Madrid on a school trip he wasn't allowed on it during the day so left it locked up at the hotel they stayed in.

I did just that when my kiddo went on trip!

I would support the school. They won't have time for their phones and are more likely to have or cause accidents / get lost if they have them because they'll be focused on phones not teachers, safety etc

You are being unreasonable

I have no problem with critical analysis, thank you.

2019 is 6 years ago which neither 10 nor 15 years ago.
it’s not such a long time ago to have a dramatic change in policies and procedures.

and I never said anything about multiple kids dying on the single trip.

in any case the OP is not in the UK so she can’t rely on “superior UK school risk assessments”.

ciao

I always leave my own phone in the hotel when I’m skiing. The risk of me breaking it/losing it is far higher in my view than the risk of me dying because I don’t have my phone. It’s the same rule at DC’s school too and it’s never been an issue. I’d be pretty cross if either of my two took their phones skiing. They would definitely get lost/sat on whilst on a chair lift/smashed when they fell over.