to give a limited number of religious vetos for school trips

[mini321]

My DS's school is trying to organise a school trip to the far east to encourage the development of new language courses they have put on offer recently.

The person organising quite a complicated trip is being asked by a number of parents about not flying on certain days, not using public transport on those days when away, asking that all food follows religious rules for their children - I feel the organiser will spend more time accommodating this group to the detriment of the trip as a whole.

My memories of trips to the Far East is all about the food because it is so different, seems a shame half the group will miss out but that is their concern I guess.

AIBU to suggest we put a limit to the number of restrictions? (slightly tongue in cheek here ) but would be interested if any other parents have encountered anything similar?

Maybe the atheists should get some protection from too many restrictions foisted upon them.

Much like most trips there has to be a line on how much juggling you can do to accommodate every individuals needs & I think the poster is more asking where the line sits than to how many (or that's how I see it)
It is impossible to accommodate for everyone. I think the organiser will need to take the major differences each religion has & work on those. The rest, in my opinion, would be 'we can't do this however...'
So (taking out religion), if a vegetarian was going & the trip was to eat at a steak house one night this satisfying the majority of the group say, provide an option! Ensure there is a vegetarian meal option available (thus accommodating vegetarian) but allowing them the choice to say 'this trip really isn't for me after all'
Like I said, it is hard to accommodate such a variety of requirements, the main should be taken into consideration, an alternative offered, & the rest left down to if the individual feels they could work around these, be these be religion, belief, dietary, whatever. The trip isn't just for one person so compromises need to be made. That's just how the world works

Eversobusy I think that you have summed it up well - it was the food issue that made me think this is not going ahead. If vegetarian was acceptable then we would be ok but that wasn't from the discussion (not at that time), it may change but I'm not hopeful. It all hangs on how many are observant enough that it stops them against how many are ok.

Vegetarian food in the far east is difficult but not impossible to find if the organiser is very clear up front - so no surprises like prawns in a vegi dish...

I do think that making reasonable adjustments is fine, and of course should be done. But there have been comments about the students all eating Kosher while on the trip, or nothing being done by anyone on one day per week, and if that were the case on a trip offered to my child, then I wouldn't send my child on that trip, and would take them myself. Experiencing local cuisine is an important part of travelling, and not something I would want to miss out on. I also wouldn't expect my child to be sitting in a hotel all day because some students can't go out that day. Offering vegetarian food, or allowing students to take their own and eat it is one thing, but not expecting everyone to adhere to those very strict dietary requirements. The students that want to stay at the hotel can do so, but everyone else gets to go and do something appropriate that day, sightseeing, etc.

CactusAnnie, I meant it could get difficult to make every accommodation that every religious group wants or needs.

It isn't likely that religious families will send children to religious schools where I live unless they are C of E or Catholic. They might be available in nearest city but 30 mile journey might put parents off.

When I was at school I went to a grammar school so my parents had to choose between the local RC secondary mod or grammar school, there wasn't a Jewish or Muslim senior school in the city I grew up in back in the 60s but there are now.

The school I went to attracted many religious groups as it was unusual in its support of various religions at that time. It was generally first choice of grammar schools for Catholic and Jewish girls for example. We also had alot of Muslim girls, but back then there was no allowance for modifying uniform so no scarves, no trousers for girls etc. The school is still there, still very mulit cultural and allowances are made for uniform.

Cactus you don't want to engage with my post because you have no answer - which is what other readers will also conclude when they read the link in my last post.

You try so hard to look for racism you have to 'find' it somewhere - its a dubious tactic as it dilutes people's responses to genuine cases.

I have just returned from a trip to China, and as a vegetarian I struggled massively. There would be small bits of pork even in the veggie noodles and I'm sure most dishes had meats stock or had been "contaminated" by meat in some way. Chinese food in the UK is very very different from Chinese food in China. Veggie food is just not understood and rarely properly catered for. I would not even trust a restaurant if they said something was veggie (maybe apart from plain boiled rice) as they just don't get it. So Kosher food would surely be even more tricky. A destination has been chosen that isn't suitable if the children are orthodox, so it's up them as to whether they attend - go and risk eating boiled rice for a week or don't go at all! In an ideal world China would cater for veggies (or Kosher) well, but they don't!

Crazy to think there are still people in the 21st century who are prepared to compromise their children's education, rather than upset their invisible friend.

It depends on the adjustments being made and how much they impact on everybody else, surely.

I'm not entirely clear of what has been proposed by the school so far?

Cactus The take away for you is not to throw vile names around without good reason - indeed is there ever a reason? Just argue your point and others can judge.

Dominogo - Crazier still to think that the schools populated by believers in the "invisible friend" seems to do remarkably well, by any measure.

All of the things cactus says in the long post make perfect sense.

Are there any schools without any pupils whose parents have invisible friends ?

Cactus, the op wasn't the one who said you had issues she actually never said any personal remarks to you, you however have said many rude remarks to her.
If you read her posts.
She has asked questions her to see how to make the trip work for ALL students instead you have just been rude and tried to make it that the op and other people are racist from the very beginning.
Good to see other posters can see this.

There is no such thing as being born Jewish, Muslim or and other religion. Religions are belief systems, and you cannot be born with them.

There is no such thing as Jewish Kids, catholic kids etc. They are the kids of Jewish/catholic parents. A subtle but important difference.

Grown adults need to get their head around this, that they are perfectly entitled to their own superstitions but not entitled to impose them on their children.

Socialist parents are likely to have children who will be socialists, because they will be brought up in a household where those values are prevalent. That is fine. But it is not fine to claim your baby is a socialist or to cart them down to Socialist Workers Party HQ and enrol them into the party.

I can't believe that anyone is questioning Cactus on calling herself an atheist Jew. A friend at school was sent to stand in the corner for saying the same thing c. 1989 - I really thought we'd moved on.

TTWK I hate to be so OTT when Cactus is being so calm and reasonable, but in 1930s Germany, Cactus would certainly have been treated as Jewish, no matter what she professed to believe/not believe.

TTWK you can spout that opinion as much as you like, all you are doing is portraying your total ignorance. You are totally wrong but of course you know that and your intention is primarily to goad. It is a FACT that being Jewish is passed through the maternal line. The evidence has already been supplied to you by cactus but you don't care about actual facts do you. My children have incidentally all chosen their faith and I don't really care whether you agree with that or not.