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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think that a child who has never been camping is not necessarily from a ‘deprived’ background

513 replies

Urbandweller · 16/07/2021 20:57

DD’s school organised a camping trip for Y5. DD is younger and didn’t attend but her class teacher went to chaperone. I was chatting with her about it today and she said she was so glad the school was able to organise the trip as so many of the Y5 kids had never been camping and would never otherwise get the chance to go. It was clear that she felt sorry for the children who hadn’t been before and was shaking her head sorrowfully, saying many of them are the same poor kids who have never been to the beach and this is one of the saddest aspects of deprivation...

AIBU to not see the link between camping and deprivation? We’ve never taken DD because it’s my idea of hell, nothing to do with lack of funds!

OP posts:
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BashfulClam · 16/07/2021 21:40

I went camping a few times as a kid and despised it. I camped at a festival and swore ‘never again’. I want a bed, walls and en suite facilities. Whoever says it’s a great experience for children…not this person as a child. I would rather slam my left tit repeatedly in the car door than ever do it again.

Wearywithteens · 16/07/2021 21:40

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn at the poster's request.

nancy75 · 16/07/2021 21:43

@mrsm43s

Well, I don't think its "deprivation" in the traditional sense, but it's truly a wonderful experience for children, and it's sad that some children don't get to experience it.
I hated it as an adult, I’d have hated it just as much as a kid. DD has only been because of the girl guides, she doesn’t like it either. Neither of us is deprived, I feel lucky not to go camping!
WeAreTheHeroes · 16/07/2021 21:45

There speaks a very middle class person - camping is my idea of hell. I've done it: it was cold and I barely slept. Never, ever again. If that's what she thinks deprivation is, she needs a reality check.

ButterflyCat2028 · 16/07/2021 21:45

I do find it very sad numerous children have never seen a beach in person given that we are an island with numerous beaches! And reasonable access to them. Same with not seeing farm animals in real life, to me- those things are deprivation specific to our country environment.

Camping, eh. Not really, you can pitch up a tent wherever legal (for free in a backgarden even) but experiences wildly differ- if you have 'fussy' parents (like i did) you won't be learning how to pitch a tent or gathering/cooking camp fire food and more. You'll be sitting in an already pitched tent 'enjoying nature' (debatable for some kids haha) whilst eating pre packed food.

We just don't have a country culture of, Hiking/Camping in middle of nowhere, catching own food so on so on compared to somewhere like america where 'woodsy' activities are seen as important and they have access to tons of local hikes/massive parks.

iklboo · 16/07/2021 21:48

I do feel kids should experience camping and they are poorer for the lack of it.

Are they knackers.

GreyhoundG1rl · 16/07/2021 21:49

@iklboo

I do feel kids should experience camping and they are poorer for the lack of it.

Are they knackers.

Precisely 😂
EssentialHummus · 16/07/2021 21:50

I've never camped. My kids haven't either. I'm Jewish, we just don't do that sort of nonsense wink

Amen to this! I can hear my DM saying, “What? In the mud? We have a perfectly nice house.”

Rocketpants50 · 16/07/2021 21:51

I think she was probably trying to say that it was giving children an experience, for example we live in a seaside town. We take children to the beach on a school trip because some children dont go to the beach. We also take children into town on a train, its amazing how many have never been on a train others have never been on a bus. Maybe being more wealthy gives you opportunities to do these things but you have a choice but many of these children dont. Maybe she didnt phrase it very well but I think its lovely that they gave this opportunity to children.

Original poster
Urbandweller · 16/07/2021 21:51

I have personally found that teachers who grew up in the Home Counties/outside London and work in areas of high deprivation sometimes have a slightly patronising attitude towards the “poor kids” they teach. There seems to be an assumption that these kids are missing out because they don’t take part in outdoor activities like sleeping in a draughty tent in the middle of a freezing field or other “enriching” experiences.

Most childhood experiences are just part and parcel of the environment they live in. Does anyone think a child growing up in a rural area is missing out because they haven’t taken the tube through central London?!

OP posts:
nancy75 · 16/07/2021 21:52

If you go camping ‘from scratch’ it costs more than a proper holiday by the time you’ve bought all the stuff.
I can be miserable in the comfort of my own home, why would I want to go to a field with dodgy toilets & be more miserable.

Minniem2020 · 16/07/2021 21:55

You honestly couldn't pay me enough to go camping. Hell on earth

Mintjulia · 16/07/2021 21:57

Nope, Ds has never been camping. I can just imagine his face Smile. No wifi, no proper bed, insects, snakes, rain.....

GalacticDragonfly · 16/07/2021 21:57

It’s about getting all children the diversity of experiences that is easy if your family has money, time, good health, language skills, cultural awareness etc, but impossible without those things.

Honeybeebloom · 16/07/2021 21:58

As a teacher who has mainly taught in deprived areas I'd say it's likely that the teacher is saying this with specific children in mind who have had very limited life experiences as a result of deprivation. It's not really about not going camping, but not being able to go camping due to not having money for this or having parents who aren't interested in taking them to do things that most children get to experience, such as visiting the beach and yes, going camping. It's not saying that any child who hasn't camped is deprived, but that not having such experiences can be linked to deprivation for particular families.

I once took a class in a really deprived area camping at the end of term. I managed to get funding so we could hire all the equipment that these children otherwise couldn't afford. A few years later I saw one of the boys who had been in the class, he told me that our camping trip was one of the best experiences of his life and he would never forget it because no one would ever take him to do anything like that (he came from a really difficult background and had lots of behavioural issues so was often excluded from school trips, never mind not getting to do these things at home).

Three0fivepointfour · 16/07/2021 22:00

@beattieedny

I've never camped. My kids haven't either. I'm Jewish, we just don't do that sort of nonsense Wink
That’s quite possibly the most humorous thing I have read on MN. Also, how do I convert?
ThatsNicePet · 16/07/2021 22:01

My first and only camping experience was 1998 in my best friend’s back garden. At about 11pm her big brother came and tried to scare us by making ghost noises and messing about outside the tent with a torch, then another girl felt sick and went home, then at midnight we were cold so we went in and camped in the dining room.

I wouldn’t go again - DH thinks it would be fun to take our DC (7 and 4). Off you go then pal, I’ll be in a hotel somewhere close by Grin

DietrichandDiMaggio · 16/07/2021 22:02

@GreyhoundG1rl

Odd. Skiing, yes. Camping, no. I wouldn't go camping if you paid me.
You seriously think not skiing means a child is deprived?
Rainbowsew · 16/07/2021 22:04

Surely she was talking about kids who hadn't had holidays seeing as she made a comment about them not having been to a beach either?!

Yabu reasonable if that's the case.

bathorshower · 16/07/2021 22:05

Given my bowels (IBS) and DH's prostate, camping would definitely not be fun, much as DD would love to go. Hopefully she can go with someone else! However we are not, by any definition, deprived, though DD is yet to go on a plane or overseas (hello covid).

SpongeBarb · 16/07/2021 22:06

I tolerate camping (for short periods) because there is wine outdoors but I dread it every time.

When I was little it was a definite holiday of choice for budgeting but I am not sure now. My parents paid 60p a night in thr early 80s to camp on a farm with a loo in a barn and no shower. Now it can be £60 a night on a 'posh' site (just for a pitch).

Macncheeseballs · 16/07/2021 22:07

Honeybee- well put,

GreyhoundG1rl · 16/07/2021 22:08

Of course I don't. I meant deprived children may not have gone skiing, but there's no reason they wouldn't have gone camping, there's no link. Camping is not for the elite.
My kids have never done either.

The3Ls · 16/07/2021 22:08

I come from a two income very middle class family. Loads of camping in my childhood. My parents in their 60s still do. Hated it then hated it now. My children have done it with school had fun but not their idea of a holiday. I do think it's something to tick of life experiences in a way. But once is enough unless you find it your thing

MargaretThursday · 16/07/2021 22:09

I've never been camping.
The dc all have with guides/beavers but I've never felt the need. I like a toilet near and tend to get migraines if I'm woken by the sun.
We also don't have the equipment, so if we did want to go camping it would probably end up quite expensive to get it too. It wouldn't be a cheaper holiday than the one we've booked this summer anyway. (£350 for 4 bed cottage for a week)