AIBU to be angry at teacher who refuses DS water on long coach journey???

[Gizzle]

DS came home very subdued and downcast after the annual school day trip to the seaside today. Turns out that he left his bag on the beach (not unusual, he's an 8yo boy after all) but luckily it was retrieved by a teacher. However, when he asked politely for the bag, she refused to give it to him for the entire duration of the return coach journey, even though it contained his water bottle and he was clearly very thirsty after a day on the beach. I'm not sure what kind of lesson she was hoping to teach him, but I would have thought that children of this age should be helped towards independence, and not punished into it. And refusing a thirsty child water? Is there ever a case for that?

400 good luck with that one!

Bloody hell LockedOutOfMN. You're a teacher or some other responsible adult on those trips?

I wouldn't want to go on them. I wouldn't want to be responsible for something going wrong because of the coach company and school's rules on banning water.

Children are sick on school trips. That just happens. They are also forgetful and get excited. The OP's son is eight.

We all know the usual suspects for puking. When I was at school it was me and Stephen O'Leary. I liked sitting at the front with the teacher and the driver but Stephen didn't. Unfortunately for him, that was the deal because he was a puker. But the idea that we would have been further punished for being travel sick...

Bed early for me I'm off on a school trip with 90 kids tomorrow

Is it compulsory Ditsy4? Because if you hate it so much, I can't imagine why you want to go.

limitedperiodonly

I can't see where ditsy said that she hated trips.

No she didn't Boney. So I imagine she sees vomiting children on school trips as an occupational hazard of an otherwise enjoyable experience.

I can think of no other reason why she's volunteered for another one and tucked herself up in bed early.

My mum did. Believe it or not, it was because I was a truthful child.

Sorry I wasn't clear. I meant that there are some parents who believe every word that comes out of their child's mouth even when the child is well known for telling lies. I didn't mean people like you.

I'm shocked that schools/coach companies feel entitled to ban water on coaches.

Sorry to you too. I missed the part where the OP said her child was well known for telling lies.

To reiterate what many other teachers have already said, and been rubbished by other posters: Many (most round here) coaches employed for school trips do NOT allow children to eat or drink on coaches. If trips are longer than a couple of hours there is normally a comfort break for children to go to the toilet and have refreshments. Most children, excepting medical needs, can manage a couple of hours between drinks.

Oh - and in our school we are not drinking cups of tea and coffee at the desk all day. Hot drinks must be in a lidded cup, and it is not generally deemed acceptable to be driving them during lesson time. Water, yes - teaching staff are talking a lot and lubrication is good. But hot drinks and soft/carbonated drinks - no

Then the schools should stop using those coach companies Hulababy

I taught secondary, but honestly, I have never known a coach company to ban water or any other beverage but am willing to be corrected.

However on practical grounds, it's bonkers. We had a coach going from the north west to London - over four hours. You could hardly order people not to drink anything in that time. Yes, I know you wouldn't die, before anyone says anything, but basic comfort for something you're paying for, whether the student of the school, is pretty much a given.

gwen well I've often wondered how exactly national express can actually check what people are bringing on. But my aspie head wouldn't let me rule break

There is a big difference between the short haul and long haul journeys that some posters are putting forward as examples of whether food and drink are allowed.

Sorry to you too. I missed the part where the OP said her child was well known for telling lies.

If you mean me, I never said that the OP's child was a well-known liar. I was just pointing out that some parents believe every word that their child says without question.

No accusations and no need to get so worked up.

Difficult to stop when almost all have the same rules, unless you stop all trips!
But then, ime, most children can manage to forgo a drink for a couple of hours - and those with medical needs would be exert anyway. Just have a drink before you go, and then a drink at each available stop - our longest trip is no more than an hour anyway.
We have never had any one concerned about the rules though tbh.

If I am on a coach for two hours I expect to be able to have a drink of water and sandwich that I've brought with me.

Don't you?

It's not difficult if you refuse to book the coach companies that make such unreasonable demands. Either they take your booking or they don't. I'd decline to send my child with a company that had those conditions and would wonder about the school who allowed a company to have such a policy.

We'd have a nice day off together and I wouldn't have any truck with unauthorised absence either.

If I am on a coach for two hours I expect to be able to have a drink of water and sandwich that I've brought with me.

Not really no. Unless I am spanning a meal point and have planned to eat on the way, which for school trips is unusual.

Most I can imagine having is water - but I manage perfectly fine without, as I have to also follow the same rules as the children.

What Hulababy said.

Limitedperiodonly, coach companies are not falling over themselves to cart schoolchildren and staff around, you know. In many areas, they have to be booked long in advance and also the companies in one area will all apply the same rules for school trips. It would be a shame not to offer school trips because the school doesn't want its students and staff to follow - what I think are quite reasonable - rules of the coach company. None of our students' parents has ever complained about their child not being able to drink or eat on a coach.

You say you would wonder about the school who allowed a company to have such a policy - schools do not choose the company's policies? Their management, presumably, would.

We'd have a nice day off together. It is shame for any child to miss a school trip with their peers for any reason. Were this to be the case with your child, I feel it's also rather sad that you would be teaching them not only to cut off their nose to spite their face but to disrespect the rules of the coach company which are in place for the customers' safety and comfort as well as to keep down the overall cost of running the service.

A sip of water and a sandwich or packet of crisps is not an unreasonable expectation on a two-hour journey.

The same coach company presumably takes adults on trips to stately homes. How do they cope with 30 elderly ladies after an hour in the tea room?

They plan stops... as they have always done.

It really isn't rocket science. A trip of 2 hours is usually not replete with a meal. It usually ends with everyone going home/elsewhere and eating/drinking.

Over 2 hours and the coach stops and everyone piles out and runs for loos and food.

Happens every day, all over the world (probably).

Jesus no wonder we are having issues with obesity if people dont think it is at all reasonable to have to two hours without food or drink.

This thread is making me think of 'Our Day Out'. From about 3.20 minutes

m.youtube.com/watch?v=u3KV5kXqOKY

no wonder we are having issues with obesity if people dont think it is at all reasonable to have to two hours without food or drink.

How many calories in water CalleighDoodle?

30 elderly ladies on a coach do not make the same level of mess as 30 7-8 year olds each with a bag of crisps and some water.
And 2 hours is no time at all to manage without a drink and something to eat. Indeed part of controlling weight as an adult is feeling hungry sometimes, and you never feel properly hungry if you do not go for 2 hours without eating.