Is it ok to ask children to be labelled with their full name on day trip.

[BrownieBlondie]

So ds is going on a group trip, not school but similar vibe. The plan is for each child to wear a wrist band with their full name on. I see this as a safeguarding risk as a stranger could read it and talk a child into thinking they know them/their parents.
Before I say something am I being paranoid or do others see this as a safeguarding issue.

Don't really understand the reasoning here. You don't say how old the child is, but if he's 5 or more presumably he knows his full name, if less than that you'd expect close supervision so that he couldn't get lost.

The point is you don't want someone to read their name. Then they can pretend they know them etc.

If it's on a wristband the child pretty much has to be trusting the adult enough to show them. It's not like someone can walk past and see it. They're as likely to tell them if they ask if they're showing a wristband.

Well not really because they’d have to pick the child’s wrist up and peer at the name first.

IME these school trips are staff heavy and run as tight as a ship and this is just so a child can get help should they go missing and are too upset to say their name

I don't think that's the risk though is it? It's more people coming up to them, sneaking a glance at their wristband and pretending they know the child because they know their name and their family name or using the fact that they know the name to trick an adult into letting them get close to them.

Adults also shouldn't wear lanyards or work IDs with their full names on in public either

Yes and in my DC’s school the info is on the inner part of the wristband so they’d also have to turn it over first!

With the best will in the world sometimes DC get lost. Having a phone number on a wrist band is very sensible and encouraged by the police.

I don't see the need for full name. Maybe first name and teacher surname ?or First name and Surname initial ? Or even first name, house number and postcode ?

I can think of plenty of ways someone could see the name if they wanted to without making it obvious.

Saying their name isn't too helpful. It's the phone number that's needed.

Given my training about how certain adults gain information about children this would be a huge safeguarding risk and I would not be happy about it!

Wristbands can easily turn inside out or be put inside out by a child fidgeting with it.

Their name is not needed so why risk it?

I can't think of a single (non catastrophic) situation where it would be necessary to have them labeled with their own name!
-the teacher's name, yes
-a phone number, yes
-an address, yes

But unless they're planning for mass unconsciousness or identifying a body it seems totally unnecessary.

They’re like hospital wristbands so you’d have a job turning it actually it would need to be removed completely to see all the info properly

It only needs a phone number of a leader on it. Best not to have the child's name on it and not needed.

Not really. But why would you need more than a phone number on it anyway?

well yes, but when you hear about some of the online and phone scams some adults get drawn into, you must wonder if they have a brain cell?
Presumably either a similar percentage - or possibly higher - of children are equally gullible.

I wouldn't be happy having a preschool aged child being taken somewhere they might get lost. They would be better off staying at nursery, if they can't supply enough supervision to be certain one can wander off.

For a primary aged child I agree a phone number fine but can't see the logic of the name as they will know it.

Abduction by a stranger is very rare.
If a child wandered off on a trip is far more likely a nice person would help them.

What is more likely than Abduction is medical episodes, and mass evacuations. Incidents where clearly identifying which child is there is important.
A child may have an accident or a seizure....and the adult supervising may know them as Freddie...but not their last name. Medics need to know if its Freddie Smith who is diabetic or Freddie Jones who is allegic to penicillin.
Worst case scenario the adult supervising is also hurt.

Having their name on a wristband wouldn't bother me.

But to know it which Freddie has which condition you would need to speak to someone who knows them. If this is the emergency contact surely a unique number would solve the safeguarding issue?

Yes, it's a safeguarding issue. I work in a school and when we go on a school trip, the children are given wrist bands with the name of the school and a contact phone number printed on them, never the child's name.

I wouldn’t be massively worried about it as the chance of anything happening is vanishingly rare but it’s not great practice and I don’t see why having full name matters in this situation.

Something I do as a teacher is give all dc on a school trip (mine are littlies) a sticker with my name & phone number on and they know they can ask an adult (we talk about good people to ask) to call me if they get lost (have never lost one yet!). I just have to make sure to take all the stickers off them before sending them home as don’t want parents having my number!

If the staff don't know the children well enough to know their names without reading them off a wristband, then presumably the children don't know the staff either. If they don't know the staff and are just being told to go with an adult who knows their name, then labelling the child with their name surely does pose a risk.

I wouldn't like it.

Oh gosh learning something new here.

DS has those sticky name labels all over his schools items like lunch bag, coat, backpack, full name and tel number. I've told him if he ever gets lost he will have the labels inside his coat. Is it time to change these then?

I can see a logic to first name and maybe initial if they have 2 children with the same name.
On a trip they might have parent helpers or teachers who don't know all the kids and some kids will clam up if they are upset. But I don't see a need for both names.

The adults supervising will have a medical form filled out. They will know if Freddie is diabetic or has an allergy.