to think teachers should not be drinking when on a school trip?

[KimbettyBooBah]

DD (14) came back from her school France trip saying that the teachers had been drinking beer at lunch time, and one time in the evening too.

AIBU to be angry about this?

[holmessweetholmes]

'Do you get a discount' As a languages teacher I have been on umpteen residential trips abroad with secondary age children. Fleecy, please tell me you don't think these trips are in any way a 'holiday' for teachers? Or that they should be paying for the privilege of supervising your children? Or that, in spite of the educational value of the trips, they wouldn't really rather be spending their free time going on holiday with their own families, where they could - dare I say it - be entitled to have a glass of wine without being derided? FFS.

[ChippingInIsEggceptional]

FleecySlippers Please god tell me you don't actually think the adults should pay??

When was the last time you looked after 60 odd teenagers for a week?

How about you do that - then decide if a glass of wine is necessary or not

[seeker]

My dd is going on a school trip this summer- 25 boys, 6 girls on a coach to Poland.

If the teachers don't need a bit of gin at the end of the day on a trip like that then they must be bloody super human!

[diddl]

Here the teachers aren't paid any extra.

Trips are in school time-always "only" Mon-Fri, but of course teachers are giving up their evenings.

They get the same accommodation "deal" as the children-which is usually a youth hostel with breakfast & evening meal-which is paid for for them.

If the trip is out of out our "county"-which the last ones were-then the teachers have to pay everything themselves.

In these cases parents have paid extra as the children wanted to go further afield.

[nokidshere]

I'm eternally grateful to the teachers at my dc's schools for being brave enough to take them abseiling, caving, kayaking and a hundred other things that would terrify the life out of me and would mean my children wouldn't get to do these things.

And of course for giving me a weeks peace and quiet lol

A glass of alcohol with lunch or dinner is the least they deserve!!!!!

[FeralStreep]

Our teachers used to drink on school trips, and not only that, they used to buy alcohol for us too.

This was only about twenty three years ago.

Shocking now, great at the time

[teacherandguideleader]

I go on residential trips a lot - school trips, Duke of Edinburgh and Guides. On all three we wind down with a glass or two of wine at the end of the day, once the children have gone to bed.

No-one gets drunk on any of the occasions. On school trips/D of E there is always someone who doesn't drink and is able to drive the minibus (insured by the school) should an emergency occur.

On Guide camp, there is usually someone who doesn't have a drink although it isn't insisted upon. The difference here is that we don't have a minibus and if we drove a child to hospital it would be in our own cars under our own insurance. This opens a whole can of worms should an accident occur en route. Although I could have business insurance, I am not prepared to put myself in this position - we would use an ambulance or taxi.

I don't see the problem with children seeing adults drinking responsibly. It is good for them to see people having one or two drinks and then stopping.

I think it is disgraceful when we get asked to pay towards trips. Most trips I go on are at the weekend or school holidays and I don't get paid. There is some debate whether there should be a contribution to food - I'm on the fence as I think as I would normally be buying food if I were at home, it isn't an added expense, but another part of me thinks free food should be provided as a 'perk' of taking children away without being paid.

My Guides were offered the chance to go on a camp for May half term, Monday - Friday. It sounded fab until I read that leaders had to pay the £150 also, and as well they wouldn't be allowed to do activities but instead would be cooking for the children and cleaning. I may have been tempted if I could have taken my camp chair and relaxed while supervising the children whilst doing activities with instructors. We were not allowed to add a % on to what the children paid to cover our cost. Because of this, my girls are not going as I wasn't prepared to give up my week off to look after children not just for free, but have to pay £150 for the privilege. Instead, myself and my boyfriend have booked a week's camping with the £150 for just the two of us. Bliss.

[Feenie]

Trips are in school time-always "only" Mon-Fri, but of course teachers are giving up their evenings.

Being on call for children 24 hours a day is not just 'giving up your evening'.
I have spent a night looking after a vomiting 11 year old, who was collected by his mum early the following day. No such luck for me - I had to go on a 15 mile hike and continue the week. There is always the occasional nightmare/tummyache, etc to deal with - so all those activities sometimes have to be done on depleted sleep.

[diddl]

Oh excuse me for the phraseology!

[ElliesWellies]

Well OP, to put things into perspective for you, one of our teachers used to drive the school minibus while he was stoned. One time he managed to scrape the wall of someone's house (while driving) and knocked all their plantpots off their windowsill...because he was stoned. Also, back of said minibus was always full of crates of beer.

One or two beers at lunchtime? Not a problem in my opinion.

[Feenie]

Apology accepted, diddl

[ComposHat]

And as for a glass of wine/beer- after overseeing sixty odd kids I'd need to be left on a valium drip in the evening combined with the odd shot of heroin to get me through the experience.

[ginslinger]

Oh this takes the

Who'd be a teacher these days with this level of gratitude from the OP?

[exoticfruits]

Who'd be a teacher these days with this level of gratitude from the OP?

It makes you wonder! Certainly you won't get any school trips if they have to pay for the privilege of taking a group of teenagers away. I should think they need a beer.
I think that some people think that teachers are superhuman.

[Wishihadabs]

When I was 17 we went on field trips with sixth form college. We went to the pub withthe teachers.

[KatAndKit]

When I have been at exchange schools in France during school trips, they have wine in the teachers area of the canteen at lunchtime. Would be rude not to! Strangely enough their teachers are not plastered all afternoon because people drink one small glass at the most.

I have been on quite a number of residential school trips with teenagers/preteens and it is enough to drive you to drink.

On exchange trips where you stay with another teacher in their home, I see no good reason not to have a glass with your dinner.

[exoticfruits]

I would just assume that teachers away with pupils are sensible, responsible adults.

[Movingtimes]

Actually I have been thinking about this and other similar threads recently and I have decided that the best thing to do would probably be to require teachers to take a vow of total abstinence before graduating from teacher training. Then there would be absolutely no grey areas. There would be a simple, reliable test: Are you breathing? Then you shouldn't be drinking. It would avoid all the problems of your pupils being traumatised by accidently catching sight of you in a pub or restaurant out of school hours and realising that that glass in your hand didn't contain lemonade. This could be extended to cover other problematic activities, eg smoking, public displays of affection towards a partner whether longterm or casual, going to places of public entertainment where a pupil or parent may be present etc. I feel sure my fellow teachers will agree.

[poppypebble]

I'd go one further, Movingtimes, and suggest that we should be locked in the store cupboards in school between the end of the day and the start of the next one. Obviously for school trips, productions, revision classes etc you'd be allowed out for a little longer, but not so long as to enable you to have any sort of 'life', whatever that is.

Won't someone think of the children? [busad]

[fortyplus]

Your daughter is 14 not 4. One teacher didn't drink. YABU unless the teachers were being paid overtime 24 hours a day.

[BoffinMum]

Not only should they enjoy the odd beer or glass of wine, just as a parent might in the same circumstances, the school trip expenses should be meeting the cost of this, given the massive subsidy the teachers are giving in terms of their time.

[BoffinMum]

I am always amazed and grateful that my kids get to go on such great trips, and everyone I know does say thank you at the pickup.

[doobeedee]

On our trips at least one member of staff doesn't drink. Teenagers will always exaggerate how "drunk" their teachers were on a trip. I have lead 3 trips to Germany in my own time so far. That's 150 pupils and I've had only 3 thank yous in that time!