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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think teachers shouldn't be drinking on trips?

627 replies

Newyeardontcare · 15/03/2019 20:31

Dc just back from trip overseas. Apparently as soon as they were in their rooms the teachers went to the hotel bar. (The kids snuck down to check on them so they could all go into each other's rooms).Were also drinking wine and cocktails at dinner (before walking kids around an overseas city for an hour to their hotel at 11pm)

Is this normal? In charge of 13yr olds?

OP posts:
Fizzyhedgehog · 15/03/2019 21:03

So...they sent them to bed, went to the bar to have a drink, ...then they woke them all up to make them walk through a dangerous foreign city at 11pm?
How confusing...
Where did they go for their school trip? Glasgow?

Ragwort · 15/03/2019 21:03

Of course it’s fine, I would imagine that the teachers take it in turns to ‘be the non drinker’, but in general terms a couple of glasses of wine is absolutely OK.

I wouldn’t be at all proud if my DC was spying on the teachers in their free time & reporting back to me (& why do you blindly believe what your DC says? Hmm)

My DS has been lucky enough to go on some great school trips & the teachers absolutely deserve to relax with a drink in the evenings.

bullyingadvice2017 · 15/03/2019 21:03

Ours used to drink our confiscated drinks quite openly. It was a running joke between the staff and kids. We still got away with it more than half the time. Great memories. Respect to the teachers giving their time up to put up with other people's horrible kids.

IncrediblySadToo · 15/03/2019 21:03

🙄

YABU they’re adults, they’re allowed to drink.

They were walking, not driving, around a city.

No school trip goes to a ‘dangerous’ city, so where were they actually?

If you make a big fuss about this and they get told they’re no longer allowed to drink at all, the school will end up not running trips because teachers will refuse to go. They’re already giving up their free time & sanity to take the kids away, when you start telling them what they can & can’t drink they’ll start telling you to f’off with the trips and if they’re compulsory, looking for a new job.

Now, how the hell is that preferable.

Oh, and you have NO idea if they were all drinking alcohol or not. I’d put serious money on at least two of them not.

Wind your neck in.

GemmeFatale · 15/03/2019 21:04

OP I’m sure the school will be thrilled you’re willing to find childcare for your own kids to help out as the designated driver/sober person for all future trips. If by chance you have any free time after I bet the local cadets/scouts/guides/etc could also use this sort of support

OwlBeThere · 15/03/2019 21:04

And why are you letting your 13 yo go on s trip that’s in such a dangerous place?! Where are they?

Sparklesocks · 15/03/2019 21:04

How long were the kids watching that meant they knew exactly how much everyone was drinking? How do they know they didn’t just have a glass or two? And did they check every teacher individually to see if they were drinking?

OhWhatFuckeryIsThisNow · 15/03/2019 21:04

When I go on the battlefields trip, the hotel puts a bottle of red and a bottle of white on the table every night (we rarely had more than one glass a night). one year a student couldn't wait to tell his mum that we were drinking. She just looked and said "I'm not surprised looking after you for a week"

clary · 15/03/2019 21:05

Wow Op. I'm in charge of three teens tonight and I'm having a glass of wine, having established that no one needs a lift home.
im hoping no one needs a trip to A&E in the next few hours, but if they do, well we'll have to get a taxi!

Running a school trip is rewarding and great but also stressful and exhausting. A glass or two of wine in the hotel bar is fine. It's not as if any of them could drive a child anywhere in case of emergency anyway, as in, I assume they don't have cars there.

Yes I also want to know what dangerous city they are in? And I agree with you, don't send them next time. I am always very grateful to tecachers who are willing to give up their days, leave their families, often sacrifice holidays to take my kids to far flung places. DD went to Iceland last month and has not stopped talking about it. I bet she never forgets it.

Canuckduck · 15/03/2019 21:05

I think it’s fine as long as there are 2 teachers on rota who aren’t drinking. I think this is reasonable in case of emergency, need for discipline etc. If one had to leave for any of the above reason there is back up. However comparisons to looking after your own children really aren’t fair. It is a job and there is fairly high chance that a group of teenagers is going get up to something that requires sober adult intervention. 13 year olds are hardly well known for their stellar judgement.

spanieleyes · 15/03/2019 21:05

Could we have just ONE night where there isn't a thread moaning about teachers!
Perhaps we could have an accountant evening or a dentist one or even an undertaker moan, any one other than a teacher just for a change!

Fantababy · 15/03/2019 21:05

You should complain to the school. Then they'll never have teacher volunteers for trips and no child will be out in such peril again.

Theworldisfullofgs · 15/03/2019 21:06

On another thread teachers were criticised for writing thank you letters. If I was a teacher I think these critical parents would drive me to drink.

FamilyOfAliens · 15/03/2019 21:06

Email the head and tell them you’re ok with teachers going on the trip to look after your DC and not being paid extra, but under no circumstances do you give permission for them to enjoy a drink in their own time.

I’m sure they’ll be delighted to hear from you.

IncrediblySadToo · 15/03/2019 21:07

Because, they aren't in charge of their own kids!

No, no they’re not.

But I’m sure they’d rather be than looking after other people’s.

So which city were they in?

GiantKitten · 15/03/2019 21:07

and your 13-year-old DC mightn't just possibly have been exaggerating, OP?

And then seeing how you reacted, exaggerated even more to wind you up?

ooopsupsideyourhead · 15/03/2019 21:07

Have a Biscuit. You are clearly above Wine

GiantKitten · 15/03/2019 21:07

I'd love to hear which is the terribly dangerous city a school sent Y9s to Hmm

ilovesooty · 15/03/2019 21:08

For the teachers' sake I hope you don't send your child on any more trips.

So did you thank them for giving up their time or not?

IHateUncleJamie · 15/03/2019 21:08

Blimey, OP, where’s this trip? Syria?

When DH & I used to take year 6s on school journey, all the staff except one would have a glass of wine in the evenings. We’d take it in turns to not drink in case a child had to be taken to the Dr - however we were in the middle of nowhere, not in a city where we could have hailed a taxi.

When you’re in charge of 40 noisy children all day and all evening you need a glass of wine or two so yes, YABU.

chocolateworshipper · 15/03/2019 21:09

all the teachers were drinking

based on the evidence of what some 13 year-olds saw? How do you know that a couple of them weren't drinking non-alcoholic cocktails?

JustOneShadeOfGrey · 15/03/2019 21:09

No. Definitely not acceptable and YANBU. Voluntary or not, they did offer to take other people’s children abroad and be responsible for them.

multiplemum3 · 15/03/2019 21:10

Oh no how dare adults have a couple glasses of wine after putting up with a shit tonne of other peoples kids. The horror.

donquixotedelamancha · 15/03/2019 21:10

If this was any other profession in charge of kids, people would say it’s not on but teachers are a protected characteristic in mumsnet land.

Are you on glue? Every week there are a couple of threads about some poor dear child who has to wear day-glow yellow trainers and arrive 15 minutes late, but the fascist teachers keep going on about needless rules.

You would also PAY any other professional to look after your child- these teachers are doing this for free.

IncrediblySadToo · 15/03/2019 21:11

spanieleyes 🌷don’t take it personally 🍹

Feel free to have a ‘Pick on Accountants’ night, but frankly, there’s not a lot to work with. We’re ‘boring’ and ‘charge too much’ 🤷🏻‍♀️ I think people will find it difficult to muster up too much froth 🤣

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