to think a ski company offering to pay any fines imposed by schools is wrong

[bottlenecker]

The times today have an article about a "A ski company is encouraging parents to take their children on holiday during term time by offering to pay any fines imposed by schools or local councils."

AIBU to think this is wrong on every level? It promotes parents to break the law. It discriminates against those without children having to pay a higher price than those with children for the same dates. I could go on....

[Rommell]

^So the fine will be paid by people who are holidaying alongside the family but are without school age children (not fair)^

Er, I'm sorry but I don't get this. Why would people without children be issued with a fine?

The families aren't getting the holiday any cheaper - they are just paying the same price as everyone else and not having to pay a fine. Win-win. Hope more companies start doing this.

[BackOnlyBriefly]

or not going away at all that year

Yes, that's the option my family used from the time I was born until I left home.

disruptive for the teachers Oh that won't do at all. I'm also a bit worried that going on holiday on a whim might be disruptive to cleaners, milkman and that guy you buy your newspaper from on the way to work.

I know what you mean really because it means the teacher is going to have to teach the child the things they missed. Except that this is not going to happen anyway. Any more than if you are off sick for 2 weeks.

[Rommell]

Presumably the increase in sales will more than cover even a whole load of fines.

[HolidayCriminal]

Actually the best whinge i heard was that kids shouldn't go on hols in term time because they were part of a "team" at school & they were letting the team down.

DS has no friends & is convinced his peers all hate him. He's disruptive, bolshy & aggressive. There are parents & possibly his teacher too who dance a jig when they realised DS wouldn't be there for a few weeks.

"Team" my ass.

[TruffleOil]

I took my children out of school for a term-time holiday once, a few years ago. It was shocking how empty it was - I would overwhelmingly prefer this (as we all would) but it was so empty that it was a bit of a drag for the children.

I don't think we've heard the last of this, there's a lot of money at stake. I don't think paying the fees for parents is the answer because that effectively penalizes the non-parents and they'll just negotiate a deal on that basis.

But the bigger picture here is that the UK is ripe for an education revolution. Responsible parents are increasingly stripped of their discretion as irresponsible parents continue to burden the system disproportionately.

[wobblyweebles]

Responsible parents are increasingly stripped of their discretion as irresponsible parents continue to burden the system disproportionately

As an outsider who has moved to another school system, I couldn't agree with this more.

My children are in a school system that is rated very highly both in the state and in the whole of the US. It sends over 95% of its students on to university.

We are allowed to take the children out of school for holidays at our's and the teacher's discretion.

Also the teachers are occasionally allowed time off in term time, for important family or other events.

The world hasn't stopped and the students still excel academically (and in other ways).

[Quinteszilla]

I think it is great!

I disagree with this nanny state principle that parents are punished finanically by insane prices on the times of the year they can go away. Not only do they have more people to pay for, more seats on a flight, bigger hire car/train or bus tickets, more food in restaurant bringing the price up.

This new Fine initiative makes me think Fuck it, now there is NO reason to respect term time, so I might as well "pay a fine" and get a cheaper holiday. Why not?

[TruffleOil]

And I agree it's a subsidy of sorts but it's normal profit-maximizing behavior. Any full-price paying customer is subsidizing the senior discount, the student discount, the coupon discount, the early booker discount, etc. "Price discrimination". Like the hard-core fans who buy the early hardback edition are subsidizing the readers who can wait for the softback edition.