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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this school trip is badly misjudged

237 replies

MaoamAddict · 25/01/2023 22:30

Have name changed as the situation is very specific. DC is in year 1 at a lovely school, but we've just received notice that a school 'trip' will be taking place to a local food bank. The school have asked for us to pay for transport (not a problem) and have gone on to say that the children will be packing food, handing out food parcels and seeing behind the scenes of a large local food bank.

We live in a middle class area with a minimal number of DC on pupil premium but there are certainly families within school community who are on the breadline and may have used food banks. I think it's fucking crass for the school to be using a food bank as a spectacle?! We donate weekly financially and feminine hygiene products, but the school don't seem to have thought this through at all, what if one or more of the DC in the 3 year 1 classes have visited that food bank?! How do I word these concerns without being 'that' parent? Or AIBU and overthinking?

The 'trip' is designed to fit in with a superhero topic at school - the food bank volunteers are being framed as the superheroes (tenuous link?) the food bank volunteers are amazing, but this feels wrong on so many levels.

OP posts:
OneFrenchEgg · 25/01/2023 22:43

5-6 seems like a crazy age to visit. I wouldn't want to manage a load of kids packing food, picking their noses while doing it and dropping cans all over the place before being helped to hand over a package.

TwilightSilhouette · 25/01/2023 22:43

edwinbear · 25/01/2023 22:40

I can see the intention is good, but I can also imagine the kids might be embarrassed if one of the volunteers recognises a child from being a visitor/recipient or if one of the DC’s family members comes in whilst the child is there. I think that’s where you’re coming from OP?

The volunteer wouldn’t point them out though. What happens if a volunteer knows a child from outside of the food bank environment. Is that embarrassing too?

neslop · 25/01/2023 22:43

MaoamAddict · 25/01/2023 22:34

No, please don't think this is me not wanting my Dc 'exposed' to the food bank, we donate weekly, speak to DC about how fortunate we are etc. my worry is that if I was a vulnerable person using a food bank, I wouldn't want to see 90 5-6 year olds there for a school trip like it was entertainment?!

I doubt they will be mixing with those using the foodbank. Foodbanks have set, limited hours when they are open for use, but a lot of work goes on in the background in terms of processing all the donations - stocktaking, storing, sorting and packing. Our local one has a separate warehouse storing all the donations, which get parcelled up by volunteers and taken to local hubs to be distributed. I think when they have school visits it is either to the warehouse, where there are never any users, or to a distribution hub at a time when it is not open to users. Those who work for the foodbank are only too aware of the need to protect the privacy and dignity of their users, so I think you are worrying unnecessarily.

titchy · 25/01/2023 22:45

I agree OP - they absolutely shouldn't be handing stuff out to clients. Most who use food banks are embarrassed, and probably won't appreciate being the school's examples of people less fortunate than ourselves. It WILL put people off going back.

Princesspollyyy · 25/01/2023 22:46

MaoamAddict · 25/01/2023 22:42

It's specified on the trip information sheets that they're packaging up food parcels and helping to 'hand them out', not sure how that's made it through a risk assessment TBH but they will be interacting with the food bank's service users.

To the PP who suggested I volunteer, I already volunteer with other charities - but thank you Hmm

Oh do you? What ones are they?

avamiah · 25/01/2023 22:47

@Princesspollyyy
Well tell that to my daughters secondary school as yesterday her year group visited the design museum in Kensington London and to be honest I had never heard of it before she went.
I asked her how it was and the first thing she said was that the cafe was expensive as it was £5 for a croissant.😶

So maybe the Food bank trip is not that bad ..?

ncedforthisone · 25/01/2023 22:47

I don't think you are overthinking it, OP. You are rightfully concerned about the dignity of the foodbank clients, who indeed should not be there as a 'learning opportunity' for a bunch of school kids.

If it were at a time where the food bank is closed, and the excursion focuses on talking to volunteer and learning about the logistics, etc., it would be different. This would not make me happy either.

FineThings · 25/01/2023 22:48

DS’s Scout group visited a food bank, your objections just didn’t occur to me. The man next door volunteers there and he said it was really good to see them.

Princesspollyyy · 25/01/2023 22:48

avamiah · 25/01/2023 22:47

@Princesspollyyy
Well tell that to my daughters secondary school as yesterday her year group visited the design museum in Kensington London and to be honest I had never heard of it before she went.
I asked her how it was and the first thing she said was that the cafe was expensive as it was £5 for a croissant.😶

So maybe the Food bank trip is not that bad ..?

Blimey... 😂😂 Yes you're right!

Original poster
MaoamAddict · 25/01/2023 22:52

@Princesspollyyy not sure why you've got such a chip on your shoulder, but I do peer counselling for those who've lost babies and had severely premature DC. It doesn't leave me much time to volunteer at the food bank on top of working full time, having 3 DC and being a carer for elderly MIL.

OP posts:
catsonahottinroof · 25/01/2023 22:52

YANBU, it's completely inappropriate for any school age school trip really. They could visit one behind the scenes, but handing out food parcels is beyond crass. It would be more appropriate to do these topics as part of RE eg harvest festival or visiting a Sikh Gurdwara.

Bibbetybobbity · 25/01/2023 22:53

I agree with you. It’s not appropriate- they can’t really ‘help’ so it’s tokenistic in that regard, and just feels like box ticking or worse ‘visiting how poor people live’. I’m amazed you’re getting so much push back on this thread. I remember a thread ages ago where the OP dd’s was being a bit spoilt and she’d thought about taking her to a food bank to help her appreciate what she had and people lost their minds about that. I appreciate it’s different, but feels like a similar sentiment to me.

BillyNighysWife · 25/01/2023 22:56

@Mammyloveswine
@MajorCarolDanvers

The OP has twice written that her objection is nothing whatsoever at all with her thinking that going to a food bank is shameful. She is saying that the children whose families use foodbanks might be uncomfortable about it.

WandaWonder · 25/01/2023 22:58

MaoamAddict · 25/01/2023 22:34

No, please don't think this is me not wanting my Dc 'exposed' to the food bank, we donate weekly, speak to DC about how fortunate we are etc. my worry is that if I was a vulnerable person using a food bank, I wouldn't want to see 90 5-6 year olds there for a school trip like it was entertainment?!

I do actually agree with that

If the kids were of an age to genuinely help great but it simply not the same as 'let's go to a bread factory and learn how they make bread'

avamiah · 25/01/2023 22:58

@Princesspollyyy ,
It doesn’t really say much about her learning experience at the Museum if she was more interested in the price of a croissant at the cafe there, which by the way was £5 .
So maybe learning about the food bank behind the scenes is actually more beneficial than a day out at the Design Museum London .

NeedToChangeName · 25/01/2023 22:59

The children shouldn't be interacting with service users. A food bank isn't a poverty safari

Separate issue, I'm increasingly uncomfortable that food banks have become so normalised. People should receive sufficient wages or benefits to buy their own food

OdeToBarney · 25/01/2023 23:00

YANBU OP. It's not a fucking zoo or sporting spectacle, what are the school thinking?

Keeponkeepigon · 25/01/2023 23:03

I don’t think it is appropriate. Food banks should not be normalised and viewed as a trip. They are due to the complete failure of Government. I think the school have got this wrong and you should voice your concerns.

Freddiefox · 25/01/2023 23:05

MrsSkylerWhite · 25/01/2023 22:39

I think children ought to learn about the lives of others. Don’t see the problem.

Someone not being able to feed their family and having to access a food bank shouldn’t be used as a teachable moment for a group of children. The clients of the food bank are not there to be used as a lesson for a school class. It’s ill thought out and inappropriate.

AnnieSnap · 25/01/2023 23:06

@MaoamAddict I agree that it’s an inappropriate ST for 5/6-year-olds. They can’t be expected to grasp the issues properly. Year 6/7, yes, but not Year 1. I also take your point that if any of the kids on the trip go there with their parents and it’s explained to the class that people who can’t afford food come here for help, they may feel uncomfortable. A bit like kids on free school meals being teased for it.

GreenFingersWouldBeHandy · 25/01/2023 23:08

I wouldn't want to see 90 5-6 year olds there for a school trip like it was entertainment?!

I don't think the school is doing this for 'entertainment'. Maybe they are doing is as 'education'? Not everything happens in books on on a smart screen. This is real life and affecting a lot of people at the moment.

MelchiorsMistress · 25/01/2023 23:08

I’m with you OP, it seems a strange choice of trip for Y1. There will be other school trip activities that small children could benefit from more.

AnnieSnap · 25/01/2023 23:09

I should have said “year 6/7 maybe (not yes). Watching people (who often feel bad) in a food bank shouldn’t in itself be a ‘teachable moment’!

Cantstandbullshitanymore · 25/01/2023 23:10

MaoamAddict · 25/01/2023 22:34

No, please don't think this is me not wanting my Dc 'exposed' to the food bank, we donate weekly, speak to DC about how fortunate we are etc. my worry is that if I was a vulnerable person using a food bank, I wouldn't want to see 90 5-6 year olds there for a school trip like it was entertainment?!

Really? Why? How does that affect the help your getting from the food bank???

HedgeWitchy · 25/01/2023 23:10

I think I lean on the side of the positive, they’ll learn about
-organisational skills
-the wider community
-how they balance a healthy weeks food from supplies, eg proteins, diets
-the importance of regular income/ supplies
-the impact of volunteering and giving

If you go with the presumption it’s handled sensibly it will be managed well and they won’t be a wide gap between the service users and staff. Usually there are plenty of ‘I do this because I once needed help myself’ stories for them, which being people together.

If we want to shape community we should start young. That includes seeing first hand how some people struggle and wanting to prevent it, it’s how we develop empathy and understanding. It’s too easy to believe it doesn’t really exist unless you see it, and many from the sounds of it have potential to grow into adults who make voting choices that lead to needing food banks.