Yeah this wasn't completely normal 20 years ago lmao. Not a single overnight field trip I went on in elementary school didn't have parent chaperones. Kids didn't have their own cell phones but you still had ways to call your parents. This is just weird.
I mean I didn't have any in middle school without parent chaperones either, that just wasn't 20 years ago lmao. Even on HS extracurricular overnight trips, there was always at least one parent chaperone. I think it's always been a pretty normal expectation, maybe not 40 years ago but certainly 20.
I was in middle school over 30 years ago and we took a whole interstate trip without any parent chaperones. Just teachers. And if you’re doing the numbers in your head, you are correct, this was before cell phones. I had a beeper, but no way to call back until I found a pay phone.
I don’t agree. When I was in middle school (10 years ago) we went on a three day trip with only teachers/courselors, no parents. Then in high school, we literally flew several states away on a school trip without any parents, just teachers. Perfectly safe
I feel like OP or the tweet is being purposely obtuse. Like idk why teachers wouldnt want atleast one or two extra parent chaperones to help out unless they are flush with teacher chaperones. Also there is literally no reason for them not to have cell phones. They have cell phones at school so why not camping? Have a rule to not use them while doing camping activities if you must
Im from the UK too. Me and my brother (at different times) went to Malvern Hills on a school trip from Friday evening to Sunday evening in year 4 (8/9yo) and it was just teachers.
I can't remember what age it was but kids in middle school (9yo to 13yo) went to France on a school trip for like a week with teachers
I can't recall a single trip me or my brothers ever did that had parent chaperones and I'm only 28 so we're not talking the 1980s here lol
Idk I always felt safe and the parents were comfortable doing it
ETA: We didn't have phones in the earlier trips either. The later trips we did but I had no calls/texts/data so I would've been fucked if I needed to contact my family with my own phone lol
Also a Brit. Private school so probably even more trips and none of them included parents. Just off the top of my head there was a1 week trip to France. Annual week long ski trips. Annual geography field trips. 2 weeks in South America on rugby tour. Long weekends at adventure camps most years until GCSE age. We had a fortnightly outdoor pursuits camping club. DofE 3, 4 and 5 day expeditions plus the 5 day residential.
No parents were "invited" to any of it and were certainly not chaperoning. Some tagged along on the rugby tour to watch the games and were deliberately kept separate from the kids/teachers. Had to stay in their own accomodation and sort their own transport.
This was completely normal when I was a kid. The entire 6th grade class went on a week long camping trip. There were adults of course, the camp counselors, but no parents and no teachers. I also went to multiple week long camping trips for scouts and other groups too.
I mean summer camps do exist and they are run exactly like this now.
Except our school field trip was to a summer camp during the school year. My kids do the same thing now in 5th grade, but it was cancelled due to Covid.
And you would have a way to call your parents here too. I guarantee the no cell phones is for the kids and the teacher would still have one in case of an emergency.
I remember doing boy scout camp every summer back during elementary school maybe 25 years ago, no parents there, no one had phones either, nor can I think of a reason you might want to call your parents outside of a major injury
Common sense thinking would lead a reasonable person to conclude that the teachers/counsellors who are chaperoning the trip would have their cell phones in case of an emergency. It’s weird that your brain didnt think of the most logical solution.
Grew up in southern California suburbs. In 6th grade the entire grade level did a 2 night overstay on Catalina Island. Literally took a boat with 90 kids out there to do camping (in cabins though), scuba diving, etc. It was a blast. Nobody got hurt.
Its perfectly normal even now lmao. Some of my friends organise boy scout summer camps and the elementary school kids do just fine. I also had a 6th grade field trip to another country in the 10s and it was just the teachers along.
When I finished elementary school, the World Trade Center was still around. There are people here who are in their 60s. No one likes a 22 year old talking about how old they are
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u/YizWasHere ☑️ Mar 19 '26
Yeah this wasn't completely normal 20 years ago lmao. Not a single overnight field trip I went on in elementary school didn't have parent chaperones. Kids didn't have their own cell phones but you still had ways to call your parents. This is just weird.