School disco, is it mean to not let them go?

[MrsSnape]

Its the school disco tonight but as my DS's are in seperate key stages their discos are at different times. DS2's is 5pm until 6pm and DS1's is 7pm until 8pm. This means I'm going to have to take DS2 to his, come home, go and pick him up, wait around half an hour, leave DS1 and take DS2 home and then go back at 8pm to pick DS1 up and then home again! The school is a good 20 minute walk away and we're not supposed to stay with the kids. DS1 isn't really old enough to walk home on his own either (9).

Plus its supposed to be karate tonight and if they don't keep their attendances up they will miss the grading in June. (This means me too as I also train).

And I warned them last night that if there was any messing around at bedtime they wouldn't go to the disco and they messed around, DS2 was still up at gone 11pm.

So is it mean to say they can't go? or should I make the effort and take them?

take them

take them, they're mad occasions but lots of fun (for the kids!)

Well, I probably wouldn't take them, but only because it clashes with karate.

If you are going to take them, could you not volunteer as a helper so that you could hang around? DDs school are always desperate for volunteers for discos.

definitely take them. If you let them know at karate I'm sure they will keep the place. Is there somewhere nearby where you can hang around, maybe have a drink/something to eat before you pick up ds2 and take him home? Does ds1 have a friend he can come back with to save you coming out again? Everyone will be talking about it the next day and they'll feel really left out.

My mum rarely let me go to school discos and I used to feel so left out. Take them!

Of course you should take them - school discos are an essential part of growing up!!

aww you lot are no good, I'll have to find a forum with meaner parents that will agree with me more lol

I would say not to but I only have 1x 4mo old! You said they can't go if they mess around and they messed around so therefore they can't go. Aren't you supposed to carry out threats like that?

I would deffo take them , they'll enjoy it and have fun, They won't feel left out at school when the children are talking about it tomorrow. I often have to take one, come home, collect one, drop the other one off, pick him up, but it dosent happen often.
I'm sure the Karate instructor would be fine them missing one lesson, I'm assuming they don't misss them often.

why do they have their disco on a wed!!!
strange!!

Take them. Discos don't happen every week.

Phone up a mum in KS1. Offer to lift share (make out you are doing her a favour). Say you would prefer the 'taking'.

Phone up another mum in KS2. Dito above. Say you would prefer the 'collecting'.

Now you have a relatively trouble-free middle evening. (Could you fit your own karate in this way)?

Well as it turned out DS2 was sent home from school with "belly ache" at around 11am (he was nattering for biscuits and "krusher" from 1pm onwards ) so he couldn't go to the disco anyway.

DS1 still wanted to go however so I've just dropped him off.

The only mum I'm friendly with at school isn't going lol

sorry..

Was just wondering, about chopchop's suggestion. can any old parent volunteer to help at a school disco? I really wouldn't be happy about that.

Surely that can't be right?

DSM: the parents shouldn't be alone with any of the kids at any time, safety therefore not an issue, imho. I volunteered and served up drinks and crisps, others took money, stood at the doors, etc. Kids took a sash with them to loo & back to keep track of numbers, but otherwise only the helping parents/TAs might go near the toilets.

Usually a lot of parents stay and stand around doing NOTHING, the parents actually helping are worked off their feet.

So the random helping parents could go into the toilets? And there would still be potential for them to be left alone with one of the children. I think its a bit dodgy..

Um... I'm not sure what a "random helping parent" is, DSM. Just thinking of our school, officially no parents are allowed to enter the school toilets ever, except the disabled toilet and even then presumably that would be only with their own child(ren).

Sometimes parents do enter the toilets anyway, when school staff aren't looking. The only way you could police that away would be to ask the staff to guard the toilets (I think they'd mutiny, we struggle to get enough people to help at the discos which are PTA-run events, after all) or you'd have to ban non-PTA parents from staying with their DC at the disco -- which would cause the disco attendance for KS1 to plummet, so not a great outcome, either.

Most of the standing around parents aren't completely useless, they do help out with their own children, at least.

The PTA regulars should all be (I think?) CRB-checked if they want to follow all Charity Commision rules, but I'm not part of the PTA nowadays so not sure where that got to. Not that CRB-checks are that much of a guarantee, something like 90% of people arrested for sexual offenses against children have no previous relevant criminal record (they said on Radio5 special with CEOP just this past Monday).

I think we run the risk of being rather paranoid about this all, though. I don't have a problem about how our setup works, whether or not anybody is fully vetted in 60 different ways.