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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

In thinking year 10's shouldn't be able to have free reign in London

100 replies

Verbena37 · 11/11/2016 17:41

DD just came home with a music trip letter. The trip is to see a major London show which I was really keen for her to go and see.

However, it says they'll arrive and then have 'free time in London', with staff staying in one place and giving the kids a mobile number if there's an emergency.

I'm totally not happy with this. If something major happens, then the medical forms aren't with the kids and the teachers might be miles across London. It doesn't say a specific area, such as Covent Garden.....just London.

My DD, as I assume many others, don't know their way around London and I think it's quite a daunting city for kids who don't know it.... some of them will only be 14. DD will have just turned 15.

Why have a theatre trip that has free reign in London attached to it?

OP posts:

qumquat · 12/11/2016 23:49

This wouldn't bother me at all. I run a trip to NYC and we give the kids (yr9-11) some free time in a specified area for short amounts of time. They have to stay in groups of 4 or more. They are generally quite awed by being in a new environment which means they behave sensibly. I think it's very important they are given a bit of independence.

When I was in Yr8 I was let loose in Amsterdam for an entire day. This wouldn't happen now but it is still one of my happiest childhood memories.

littlesallyracket · 13/11/2016 01:20

I think at 14 or 15 they will be fine, and it's definitely normal for a school trip for kids that age. I have nieces and nephews in their teens and they've had 'free time' on school trips to Paris and Madrid, let alone in London. I can guarantee you that they won't go far from wherever their teachers are waiting.

My friends and I used to get the train into London (I grew up in a small town about 25 miles away, so it was a 40 minute train journey to Liverpool Street and then the Tube to the West End or Camden) to go shopping or visit attractions and things when we were that age, and this was long before the days of mobile phones (and this was also at the time when there were regular IRA bomb scares). I know my mum did worry a bit, but I think that's all part of being a parent of a teenager.

As for 'Why does theatre trip have to have free time attached to it?' I would say it's because they want the kids to learn a bit of responsibility and independence and to learn to explore a bit for themselves. I don't think they'd ever mature if they were constantly chaperoned, and if they're going to take the kids into London, why not make the most of the opportunity while they're there?

YoHoHoandabottleofTequila · 13/11/2016 01:24

Did this exact same trip when I was at school. Grew up rurally too. All was fine.

Leanback · 13/11/2016 01:26

In Year 9 I went on a school trip to Paris, we had free reign within groups.
In Year 10 I went on a school trip to Barcelona, we had free reign within groups.
In year 11 I went on a school trip to Venice, we had free reign within groups.

YABU, there will be safety measures in place and will probably be a lot safer in english speaking london than myself and my friends were at 14 in france with not a lick of french between us.

LouisvilleLlama · 13/11/2016 06:46

It's I had free time in Paris I'm year 7, free time in Germany and Poland in year 9 and New York year 10

onemorecupofcoffeefortheroad · 13/11/2016 07:23

I had misread yr 10 for 10 yr olds and thought hmmm not sure about that. But yr 10s perfectly ok and necessary. We live in a fairly rural village that's within a half an hour train journey from central London and my two DC have been going into London with friends unaccompanied by an adult since yr 9 and I think even possibly yr8. There were boundaries put in place and they had to stay in touch but overall it was a successful experience and good for them (and me), they are extremely confident about finding their way around big cities now.

NothingIsOK · 13/11/2016 07:40

I think it's brilliant. One of the real downsides to rural childhood for me was lack of exposure to cities. Going to uni I had to catch up very fast and it was mostly terrifying and disorienting. The bus station alone was more populous than our local "town".

Give your country mouse kids as much exposure as you can while they're still young and won't mind or notice the city mice looking at them like they're from another planet and shouting at them for walking in the wrong place on the tube.

munki · 13/11/2016 07:57

At 14/15 my friends and I would regularly travel to London on our own on the coach on a Saturday (2 hours away), bombing around on the tube was a really formative experience and this was well before mobile phones. At 17 we went to Spain for a week on our own and our parents didn't bat an eyelid.

NoSunNoMoon · 13/11/2016 08:13

When I was 14 we had a free day in Paris. Let her grow up.

IAmAmy · 13/11/2016 15:31

I'm from London and would say don't worry. The area they'll be in is very safe, crowded and the biggest issues they'll have is trying to walk for more than 10 seconds without having to navigate their way around tourists. I'm sure they'll tell them not to go too far and stay in the general area rather than be jumping on buses or the Tube. Whenever I've been on school trips in the past couple of years we've had time to walk around independently of the teachers wherever we were, with some guidance. As has also been said many teenagers from out of London will travel in with friends to go shopping, see plays and concerts, it'll be fine and they'll probably love it.

Stillwishihadabs · 13/11/2016 16:09

YABVVU yr 10 is 14/15. I was crossing London to go to gigs at the Brixton Academy at that age- really it's fine

Rainydayspending · 13/11/2016 16:15

I was hopping on the train then tube to get myself to Camden market to meet up with friends or (dum dum dum) do my Christmas shopping ALONE on Oxford st at that age.
Really. IT's fine.

IAmAmy · 13/11/2016 16:15

I think the OP meant partly because the school is in a rural area so they'd not be used to cities, I've been going to gigs all over London since 14 too and going out on my own with friends, but then I've been brought up here. Still they'll definitely be fine and I'm sure lots of schools do the same thing, mine does whenever we go on trips.

KindergartenKop · 13/11/2016 16:20

I thought you meant 10 yr olds.
Year 10s? Age 14-15? I've taken them to Krakow, Berlin, Belgium etc, they go off on their own and they return to the meeting point at the appropriate time. They're fine. Mostly they're in McDonald's or buying dubious souvenirs.

KindergartenKop · 13/11/2016 16:22

Also I had a free day in Marrakech at the same age.

user87 · 13/11/2016 16:29

I did the same trip in Y10. It was my first time in London and the same for a lot of my mates. We'd been stuck on a coach all the way from Staffordshire, our free time was eaten into by London traffic and when we were eventually set free, all anybody wanted to do was eat. It's highly unlikely they'll have enough time or the inclination to wander miles across London even if they aren't told they're not allowed to.

It was also the highlight of my time at high school. Love Spamalot and probably would've never gone to London otherwise because I'm not keen on crowds. It's an experience.

AtiaoftheJulii · 13/11/2016 16:34

Yup, y11 ds went on a London theatre trip just a few days ago - coach dropped them in Shaftesbury Avenue and they had a couple of hours in which to get some food. The y10s had to meet back at the theatre half an hour before showtime, the y11s had their own tickets so just had to meet at their seats. Ds and his friends just crossed the road and had a meal in Chinatown.

228agreenend · 13/11/2016 16:46

They'll be fine. They'll either head off to somewhere to buy food, go to the Apple Store, browse a department store or look around Covent Garden. If they are not used to London, then they won't wander far.

I'd have no qualms about sending my year 10'son on your school trip.

IAmAmy · 13/11/2016 16:52

I'm in Year 12 now and when this last happened on a trip we tried to get served in a pub. To allay the OP's fears I doubt Year 10s would try that...

fishonabicycle · 13/11/2016 16:59

I think all of my son's secondary trips have involved some free time. He also went to London in year 10 with friends for days out (no adults). I would have thought that by age 14-15 they should be trusted for an hour or so!

Hulababy · 13/11/2016 17:14

14y Dd is off to London for a theatre trip in December. They have some free time too though they are restricted to Covent Garden, which is where there hotel is.

She's had free time in other places on trips, abroad and in UK - but always with some restrictions as in location and time.

But then in March she's on an exchange trip to Madrid and then it'll all be down to her exchange partner and his family. If they let him out and about then Dd will be too. Though I'm assuming they'll be in fairly large groups if anything like when they visited here.when they were here they did have free reign during the evening and weekend, though I was the one able to lay down restrictions re time home.

DiegeticMuch · 13/11/2016 17:18

I understand your trepidation but I think it's fine, OP.

trotzdem · 13/11/2016 17:23

DD has had free time (with the teachers sitting in a cafe centrally) and an hour or so to explore in groups of 3 or 4 without an adult in unfamiliar small towns on school residential trips since age 9 (we are in forrin) so I'd hope that by age 14 children would manage a couple of hours in London.

I flew to Malaysia on my own just after my 16th birthday to visit a school friend who's moved there. The return flight was delayed and didn't meet its connection in Amsterdam and I slept in the airport and got myself on standby for the first flight in the morning. I was unphased. We don't always give our kids enough credit IMO.

kali110 · 13/11/2016 17:33

We did this when i went on school trips and thatwas 20years ago. (My god i feel old )
I had only really been to my local town and that was it so this was huge to me.
I survived. My friend and i hit the shops and checked out what the underground looked like.

It will be fine. She'll have fun.

halcyondays · 13/11/2016 17:35

They are 14, we were let loose in Paris at that age. It will only be for a fairly short time.

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