School trip to London - terrorism threat severe

[Labradorsarethebest1]

Hi, first time posting. My eldest is due to visit London on a school trip. An worried that the current terrorism threat level is 'severe'. Should I allow him to go? I'm not usually prone to panic etc but have a nagging doubt that won't go away. I've asked myself 'where is he safest?' The obvious answer is at school and not in Central London. I know the spiel about not letting terrorists prevent us from going about our everyday lives but is it irresponsible to allow your child to travel to a city when the threat of a terrorist incident is 'highly likely' (in the words of govt advice).

London has been on high alert for sometime, presumably even when you booked. Dd is off on a trip there tomorrow and it hadn't even occurred to me as an issue, possibly because dh works there a few times a week.

Um, millions of people live in London, and I'm pretty sure the terrorist threat is that high most of the time. It doesn't affect our lives on a day to day basis and I'd think you were massively paranoid if you stopped your son joining in an educational trip with his peers.

The threat level is described as 'severe' a lot of the time. More than most people realise. If people stayed indoors every time it was raised, London would be a ghost city half the year, but it's not. Let him go and enjoy himself.

It's 'severe' most of the time for London.

If you don't want him to go, then withdraw consent. It is totally your choice.

But that only makes sense if you are going to avoid all areas with that level of warning all the time. Is that what you are planning to do?

Agree with others - the threat level is / has been "severe" for some time. The line about not letting terrorists win by not about your normal business isn't a line - it's absolutely the right thing to do

It's been 'severe' for over a year. I work close to Westminster for a company that has a lot of buildings made of glass so we get the updates.

How do you know this any way? Did you go online and check the threat level? If so, may I suggest that perhaps you were a bit worried even before you checked the threat level. Is there something else on your mind?

Um, I work in central London. It's always severe. I started work two months after the London bombings and it's infrequently come off severe!
Having said that, I appreciate if you're not from London it can be a bit more scary so I don't think you're being unreasonable though your DS may find it a little embarrassing if you stop him going.

I have avoided london this year which is a shame because i love it. But i am scared :( especially with these insidious attacks carried out by lone nutters who really can't be policed :(

Caveat - i suffer from anxiety so have always been a bit of a worrier

Yep it's been severe for at least 10 years. It's been that since we moved here about 8 years ago.

"
"If you don't want him to go, then withdraw consent. It is totally your choice."

Is it? Isn't it mostly his choice?

as everyone notes, threat level has been severe for years.

how does he get to school? In a car? Is he near other cars if you walk? do you know how many accidents there are near schools due to idiotic driving?

point taken, I hope.

I'd say the stats for getting run over on the way to school would be a good deal higher than a terrorist attack tbh

We went up to London the week after the 2007 tigertiger nonsense, I lived there for years, dd is going next week. You HAVE to go about your lives or you would never do anything.

I'm feeling shaky about this too - DH works in central London. DS has a school trip to Berlin in July, and I just looked it up - they're on high alert too

I do feel the same overprotectiveness you feel - to wrap them safely in cotton wool - But we can't not do things, not go about our daily lives, because of this threat can we?

These Ramadan attacks have upped the anxiety for me though.

Thank you for your responses. They echo that of my DH. I suspect that because we don't live in London, the fear is slightly more elevated than those that live and work there on a daily basis - as it's just the 'norm' for them.
I'm not usually over anxious or overly paranoid about the health and safety of my 3 children. I've never questioned myself before to the extent that I would want to post on a forum. 13 years of parenting and this is my first post. Just a nagging, pit of the stomach, feeling of doubt this time for some unknown (and probably totally irrational) reason. Cheers.

Your feelings are important op. Would you feel better if maybe he had a cheap/ old mobile phone to take with him? Not for you to call, as this would embarrass him, but so you know he's contactable. Also, it might be worth talking with the teacher to find out what their plans are etc. Might make you feel better about it.

He has a phone. My children have been on many school trips, residentials etc and I've never once worried. I used to be a teacher myself and I know that my children are in safe hands when they travel with school and I trust that their teachers wouldn't take any unnecessary risks and would factor in all aspects of safety when planning a trip. It wouldn't help me to talk to his teacher. The matters are concerning me are beyond their control. Thanks for your response.

Dd goes into London everyday because that is where her school is. As for the Ramadan warning I think the people on the beach, whilst I am not down playing the horrific killings, they were collateral damage as looking at the bigger picture they appear to be going after the Muslim communities. Tunisian people rely heavily on tourism for their countries income and they appear to be damaging those countries. With no income how will these people survive. They have also bombed a mosque in Kuwait so not too sure who they think they are targeting. It is like the 7/7 bombings, one of the bombers targeted Edgeware Rd, for those outside of London this is a majorly Muslim community.

My dm refused to see me when I lived in London because of the IRA terror threat but then they bombed Manchester.

Our primary went over two days last week including KS1 & were absolutely fine. Given the weather forecast, I,d be more bothered about heat exhaustion/ability to carry enough drinks!

as a comparison, 1700 people died on the UK's roads in 2013 (most recent stats). 400 of those were pedestrians.

did it make the news? Do you stay off the pavements?

hope he has a great time.

Thank you everyone. The general consensus is that we should carry on with such activities because we have been living with this threat for a long time now and will (unfortunately) be living with it for some time to come.
I don't ever want to limit the opportunities available to my children and normally would encourage that they participate in as many as possible and I suppose that if I want to continue in this way, that I will have to put my worries aside on this occasion and let him get on with it. Cheers.

good for you.

these threats will be there for ever, so we might as well enjoy ourselves now.

I live in London and the threat has been severe for a long time. We just have to get on with our lives. Realistically you are more likely to be knocked down by a car in your own street than caught up in terrorist violence.

Hasn't it been severe in London for years?

I live here, and I'd rather not (for other reasons as well as this), but you just get on with stuff.

Dh and I tend to avoid the tube on anniversaries of horrible events, or maybe the Friday after a spate of stuff, and I think I'm unusual in that.

The threat for London AND the whole of the UK from international terrorism is severe.