Would you let your child go on this school trip?

[Bubblegirly]

Hello

7yr old in year 3 has the opportunity to go to London to see a musical. It’s for those children who are involved in performing arts at school. It’s an evening performance and coach will likely not be home to midnight. It’s on a school night (organised by school) and children are allowed in later the next day.

1 parent is point blank saying no because it’s too late!
other parent thinks 1 late night is ok for a child that has a well established routine generally and that they will be sad to miss out!

YANBU = let them go
YABU= don’t let them go it’s too late

@Bubblegirly

What is the ‘too late’ parent’s concerns?

I would say no because my 7 year old wouldn’t cope, she’s asleep by 8 and really struggles with late nights. Tbh her 4 year old sister would cope better.

I hit the wrong button! I meant you’re not unreasonable - let them go!

Oh come on! If rhe child wants to go, let them go.
Everyone will be tired the next day yes, but what an adventure to talk about!
I'm all for established routines but do teach your kids how fun it is to break that routine every once in a while..

Yes, if I knew they would be in safe hands, although I wouldn't let them sleep in too late the next day

You'd purposely make sure your 7 year old child had a bad night's sleep and wake them up early, even though you facilitated the late night? Wow.

YABU to not let your child go. One late night isn’t the end of the world.

Let them go, so what if they're a bit tired next day? The fun & the experience and the being part of it with their classmates more than outweigh any temporary downsides. And unless a trip is literally unaffordable, I'd hate to be "that" parent who turns their child into the only one not going. No child wants to be singled out like that, on top of missing the trip.

Incorrect, I did not say I would wake them up early

Hmm my DCs both took part in evening shows occasionally from age 7 so I don't really see the issue. Yeah it's a PITA collecting them at midnight from school trips but that's something that happens even well into secondary school

Id definitely let them go

Yes! Wouldn't even occur to me to say no especially if he's genuinely interested in performing arts. He isn't going to die because he's a bit sleep deprived. My dd same age flew home from her summer holiday this year and landed at 01:30 the day she started back in September. She went to school and was absolutely fine. Part of the reason so many of us are so antisocial and isolated these days is because we don't seem to want to make ourselves the slightest bit uncomfortable for normal social experiences. If he wants to go then let him

At that age even being up that late would be so exciting that you'd remember it forever. What a fantastic memory to create (if you can cover the late night and late start the next day!).

But if you knew your child would be a sobbing mess you just wouldn't send them. Doesn't mean other kids should miss out.

They're not toddlers ffs

They'll probably all fall asleep on the coach home, they'll be knackered. It's unusual to choose an evening performance for such young ones but I'd let mine go, yes. They'll have a lovely time.

I let mine go on trips like this.
They were also on school on time next day..
They went to bed earlier next night if they were tired but as ds2 said, his body just resets! 😆

Depends what the show is and whether you take them to the theatre at other times. My DD's experience of school theatre trips has been that they often get rubbish seats with a restricted view. We go to the theatre/musicals as a family a few times a year, so it's not a particularly exciting trip for her. But I know that schools often take children to improve their cultural capital as their families don't go the rest of the time.

Depends on the child I guess. I have one that would be fine/have a lie in the following day, and one that would be awake at 5:30 regardless and be a living nightmare for the rest of us from being overtired I'd have let them go as a one off anyway If they wanted to.

But if your child is already involved in performing arts then are they not used to late nights from evening performances? If that's affected them negatively in the past I can understand reluctance but if they usually cope then I don't see the issue.

have I got this right? Is it being arranged by a performing arts school that the child attends? Is there any hope/expectation that the littlies will get parts in other shows? Because if they are and they want to do it, the nights will be a lot later.

and if the lateness is affecting the child then should they stay in the school at all?

I would happily agree to this for my children as they’d both have loved it at this age.

To all those commenting on the evening performance, it can be incredibly difficult to book matinee performances as demand is high from schools. There is also the difficulty of losing lesson time to a non curriculum activity, particularly one that is not universally offered.

It isnt the responsibility of the school to organise how your child will be collected. Why do schools now have to think for parents too? If logistically it doesn’t work for your family, don’t send them!!

The teachers on this thread are exasperated that we are being bashed for going out of our way to plan amazing experiences for kids. Honestly, trip planning is a nightmare. The burden on the trip leader is enormous. in this case the teachers will work all day and then lead a trip all evening. They won’t see their own family that day. If anything goes wrong it’s our entire livelihood (and liberty) on the line. So many teachers point blank refuse to organise trips now because of this.

Huh? I don't understand your question.

Because they would have to make it available to all free of charge / voluntary contribution etc. trips during school hours get complicated.

Controversial opinion but I think too much is made of bedtime ‘routines’ for children. They’re almost always for the parents’ benefit rather than the child. It’s not detrimental to them if they’re up late one night. In fact, as people have pointed out, it will have great benefit to them.

I would have absolutely no issue with this. I honestly dont understand why anyone would, how miserable to deprive your child such a positive experience because of a late night and possibly being a bit tired the next day. Poor kid!