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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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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PiccalilliChilli · 16/07/2021 22:09

I would consider us to not be deprived in anyway, but I went camping as a child with my family and generally hated it. My minimum requirements is a caravan. Therefore my daughter has never been.

FawnFrenchieMum · 16/07/2021 22:10

I feel like she means, many children don’t ever get to go on holiday / see the seaside / have a break rather then specifically camping.

FunnysInLaJardin · 16/07/2021 22:11

@BrozTito

If jewish people dont camp how did they manage to wander the desert for years with Moses?
Grin
thecatsthecats · 16/07/2021 22:11

@RestingPandaFace

Is it a correlation between deprivation and camping, or between deprivation and a lack of experiences?

It’s fine to choose never to go camping and do other things instead, but it’s sad that there are children who would love to go and will never have the opportunity.

Well the teacher herself did say that many of them were the same kids who didn't go away at all. It's a Venn diagram not a scattergraph Grin

I think all kids should get an opportunity to camp whether their parents particularly enjoy it or not, but it doesn't have anything to do with deprivation in my mind. More to do with getting varied experiences.

My DH and I love half-and-half holidays - a few days camping, a couple of days in a luxury hotel, a few days "holiday from home". Kids benefit from a range of experiences, and I hope I have the ability to grit my teeth and get on with the ones I'm not so keen on (e.g. Never fancied Disney land myself as a kid but would go for my child - and MIL just can't BELIEVE that I "take" my husband camping when he never did with her).

MrsBobDylan · 16/07/2021 22:11

I think she meant children who don't get to go on a holiday, since she mentioned not going to the beach either.

And lots of deprived kids don't get to go on a holiday and that is sad for them.

SuperCaliFragalistic · 16/07/2021 22:11

I worked for an inner city youth project briefly and we took a group of kids (age around 11-13) about 2 hours away to camp for 2 nights and go to the beach and the countryside. None of them had left the city properly before or swum in the sea, none had cooked food over a campfire or slept outside. They all dropped litter constantly and wouldn't eat anything that didn't come wrapped in plastic. They were definitely deprived in the true sense but also I think by missing out on even a cheap, easy holiday they were additionally deprived. It wasn't the camping per se, but the general lack of alternative experiences. I am sure that is what the teacher meant.

Tangledtresses · 16/07/2021 22:11

My holidays were spent in Ibiza 😀😀 I do have a campervan and my kids love it... but my eldest would love a 5 star Hol in Ibiza

Summerdayshaze · 16/07/2021 22:12

YANBU

What a load of rubbish.

therearenogoodusernamesleft · 16/07/2021 22:17

I've never been camping because turns out I'm a bit of a princess Grin

user1471538283 · 16/07/2021 22:19

I think generations ago maybe it was cheap but not now!

My DS only went camping with the school and at festivals. He is not a fan. I never took him camping. It is just the same chores and less convenience than at home. To be honest I would rather stay at home than go camping.

thecatsthecats · 16/07/2021 22:20

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?!

Ah, see I grew up rurally, but urban skills are very easy to acquire, and rural kids almost entirely get opportunities to encounter them. (Of course, you get all sorts like people who are still worried about the tube as adults, and urban and rural dwellers who think a motorway is scary etc).

But on the whole, I've found that urben dwellers don't have the same understanding of the country as rural dwellers, and the majority of them NEVER acquire it.

But as this very thread shows, people can be fantastically touchy about being considered deprived of experiences.

I have experience of rural and urban environments. I have experience of five star hotels, international travel and camping in Wales. I have never been skiing, to South America, to India or any part of Southern Africa.

More experiences make people more broad minded and gives them a better cultural capital to draw on, but there's no need to be touchy about admitting that you haven't experienced something or provided it for your children. I'm sure they'll be just fine.

DysmalRadius · 16/07/2021 22:21

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?!

Yes! That's what my local, relatively rural school does with the kids, precisely to give them a chance to experience something that isn't available in their local area and that their parents probably wouldn't or couldn't do with them.

My mum taught in relatively deprived schools in London and was always trying to provide opportunities for her kids that they wouldn't get to do with their families. It changed depending on the cohort, but going to the 'country' and seeing rolling fields and animals etc was a hugely popular one and something that loads of kids might never have seen otherwise.

Milesbennettdyson · 16/07/2021 22:22

We never went camping because my parents had a touring caravan and we enjoyed abroad holidays a further twice a year.

We don’t have a caravan but holiday abroad usually twice a year and twice in England and rent houses so do not need to go camping.

We are far from deprived!!!

EvenRosesHaveThorns · 16/07/2021 22:22

'deprived' doesn't have to mean financially as most people are taking it. Camping is all about being outdoors, resilient, skills like firemaking, outdoor cooking, star watching, marshmallows, nature and wildlife...maybe being rained on and being miserable too! all kids should have the chance to do it rather than sterile hotels all the time

Ifitquacks · 16/07/2021 22:25

@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.
My parents used to take me camping and I hated it! Hated brownie camp too. Give me a nice soft bed in a hotel any day. What’s magical for one person isn’t magical for another 🤷🏻‍♀️. Mine have never expressed a desire to go camping. They’ve visited plenty of places and love a European city break with museums etc.
Nanny0gg · 16/07/2021 22:25

@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.
Why is it?

It has never, ever appealed to me

HoldingTheDoor · 16/07/2021 22:25

So called "sterile hotels" are one of the best things ever invented.

ZZTopGuitarSolo · 16/07/2021 22:25

@MrsBobDylan

I think she meant children who don't get to go on a holiday, since she mentioned not going to the beach either.

And lots of deprived kids don't get to go on a holiday and that is sad for them.

This is how I read it too. I have one relative who has no money and no car. Her kids never get days out or holidays because it's just too difficult and expensive.

Occasionally their grandparents will take two of them out for a while (that's all they can fit in their car) and a couple of years ago I remember some of them did go to the beach for the first time in their lives. Most have never been to a beach or been camping unless with school.

SuperCaliFragalistic · 16/07/2021 22:25

My neice (5) has lived all her life in a little village and when she visits me in the city she's pretty clueless when it comes to crossing roads and taking buses. I wouldn't call her deprived but if she never got to go anywhere or experience anything outside her village then I guess she would be.

Nanny0gg · 16/07/2021 22:25

@EvenRosesHaveThorns

'deprived' doesn't have to mean financially as most people are taking it. Camping is all about being outdoors, resilient, skills like firemaking, outdoor cooking, star watching, marshmallows, nature and wildlife...maybe being rained on and being miserable too! all kids should have the chance to do it rather than sterile hotels all the time
Why?

It sounds utterly miserable

baffledcoconut · 16/07/2021 22:27

I’m just about to fork out £1500 for camping shit and that doesn’t include the pitches and probably a whole host of crap we haven’t thought of.

Camping is NOT cheap. But currently it’s the closest we’re going to get to a proper holiday.

owlbethere · 16/07/2021 22:28

When you grow up poor ANY holiday is few and far between, that’s probably what she’s saying, not that camping itself is the point but a holiday of any sort.

SuperCaliFragalistic · 16/07/2021 22:28

I genuinely don't think the teacher is talking about children who haven't been camping but have been skiing, to hotels and on European city breaks. The non-campers on this thread are being deliberately obtuse.

PaulaPetunia · 16/07/2021 22:28

We couldn't afford camping or overnight stays as s kid. We did do day trips.
We weren't deprived in our heads thank goodness.

BustPipes · 16/07/2021 22:29

Sunderland CC owns Derwent Hill, in the Lake District.

This means that every kid in Sunderland gets the chance, at at least one point in their school lives, to experience kayaking, abseiling, scrambling over rocks etc. There are funds for kids whose family can't afford it.

Some of those kids, apparently (I have never been) have a shitty time, because the accommodation is pretty basic (almost as basic as a private school dormitory) and they find they don't actually like the great outdoors. It's not like the teachers all love it either.

But it's a brilliant thing - many of the kids, even if not particularly deprived, will come from families who can't afford to go on numerous holidays each year, and will therefore go on the package one with the greatest chance of everyone having a decent and relaxing time - you don't take a risk on something when it's everyone's 'big' holiday. It is just not something they'll ever experience, other than through school. And rather than saying it's tragic that they don't get to go with their families, I will say that it's great that they do with school.