School camping trip

[Kalian]

Hey folks, give me your oppinion on this. I need to know if I'm being too protective or if you agree with my view.<br /> I just found out from my wife that my kids 6th grade class is planning a 4 day camping trip to mt. Shasta. It is to be co-ed, but seperate sleeping quarters for the boys and girls.<br /> I am totaly against it. I think it's a prime oportunity for the kids to be molested by a pedufyle. I know that sounds paranoid, but it's reality. pedufyles seek out places of employment where they can meet their victims. I checked out a site posted here a while back, which showed you a map of convicted peduhfyls for your area. My area had a lot.<br /> I'm also concerned at the level of supervision. Too many kids for a few adults to handle out in the woods. Especialy todays kids and todays adults. I don't feel like it is safe for the kids. I don't think they realize how dangerous it can be out there. I grew up in a totaly different world than present day today.<br /> I don't want my kid to go unless I go too, but I certainly can't just take off and go camping for 4 days. My wife says my son has been looking forward to it, and I feel bad about saying no. So what do you think, should I let him go, or should I say no and schedule a family camping trip to make up for missing it? I know the family camping trip is not the same, his peers won't be there, but it's better than nothing.

 

[Kalian]

Re: School camping trip

Doh! Wrong forum! Could you move it to dockside chat JB? Thanx!

 

[ZmOz]

Re: School camping trip

I would say you're being WAY too paranoid if this is something sponsored by the school. There's just as likely to be a ********* at the school and teaching your kid as there is on a camping trip.<br /><br />Edit - why is the word ped-o-file blocked?

 

[kenimpzoom]

Re: School camping trip

You are being too paranoid. Make sure you meet all the adults that are going and talk to your kid.<br /><br />Tell him to have fun.<br /><br />Ken

 

[rwise]

Re: School camping trip

Let him go, if you have concerns then take off work and go with him, it would be a good break. Most employers understand that employs have things to do with there kids that takes them from work! He's only going to be young once, he should have some good times to remember!

 

[tommays]

Re: School camping trip

As someone who had and encounter as a child with a ped scoutmaster i still let my children do these things.<br /><br />There 18 and 21 now and just fine VS not knowing how to act in the world if i tryed to hide them from it.<br /><br />The difference is that my children are well aware of proper ADULT behavior and there RIGHT to say NO to things that they have been taught were worng.<br /><br /><br />tommays

 

[KRS]

Re: School camping trip

I think drug use and sexual contact among the kids is more likely and should be the concern.

 

[ndemge]

Re: School camping trip

How many Kids to How many adults will be there?<br />Talk to the people in charge, see if there is a "nobody alone" rule in place.<br /><br />....any way to be able to split the time, you go 2 days, your wife go 2 days? or talk to some of your kids friend's parents to get more adults there. Schools will seldom turn down extra help.<br /><br />I went to camp once after 6th grade, really enjoyed it.

 

[JamesCoste]

Re: School camping trip

Letting kids out of your sight is a measured risk. That includes when they are in the back-yard (less risk), at school (higher risk), and on a 4-day camping trip (possibly even greater risk).<br /><br />Part of the decision-making process has to be your son. How well have you prepared him to handle difficult situations? Have you told him what are his "private" areas (basically anything that you would cover up in a bathing suit)? Have you told him that only Mom, Dad, and a doctor are supposed to (appropriately) look and touch?<br /><br />If so, you have less reason to worry. A few ideas to get set your mind at ease. Find out who the chaperone's are. Maybe one of your son's friend's parent is going. Ask them to keep your son in his/her sight (at all times).<br /><br />I have 3 kids myself (10, 6, 5) and it is hard to let them go. It is a risk, but life without risks isn't worth living. None of us would ever go fishing or boating (boat could explode, sailfish could jump in the boat and stab us in the heart, boat could sink).<br /><br />I don't mean to make light of your decision. Your son is, no doubt, important to you.

 

[deputydawg]

Re: School camping trip

Although you have a good reason for concern, don't let the child molestors worry you that much. Schools have a legal obligation to do background checks on all employees down to the janitors. They don't check the sex offender registry, they check the central registry. It is way easier to get onto the central registry. If a person tells a counsilor that he or she has sexual dreams of children, but would never act on those then they are on the central registry. If social services get a complaint of someone abusing children in any way and can't prove the case either way they are on the registry.<br /><br />Also don't let the sex offender registry you talked about worry you. This is NOT for child molesters only. It is for all sex offenders. You have to consider that a guy gets drunk in a bar, thinks a waitress is flirting and grabbs her rear. If she complains he gets convicted and is reqired to register. If a kid turns 19, his girlfriend is only 15 days before the 16th birthday and they are caught having any sexual contact then he could be convicted and forced to register. These people are not dangerous to society and make up a large part of the sex offender registries. You would be surprised at how many predators have been convicted before the registry law and do not have to register. <br /><br />If I were in your shoes I would be worried for my child. I would try to send a clear message that if anything happens they do NOT have to put up with it. Teach them to run away, scream, fight, anything to get attention of a witness. But the hardest thing is teaching them this without scaring the pooh out of them and making them a nervous wreck. More of a concern would be are there enough adults to watch all of those kids? <br />Final thought how harmful will it be to your child socially and mentally if they are not allowed to go? Will it make them the outcast with their peers? Will it put him in fear of the boogie man that is plotting to molest him or her? <br />Find out if it is acceptable with the school to send a cell phone with your child, and have them call home a few times a day to check in. If not find out if there is a pay phone close by camp and send a phone card for them to check in twice a day. <br />I do not envy you this at all. I am looking at your situation x3 in a few years. Bottom line for me is I don't want to let my babies go!

 

[Kalian]

Re: School camping trip

Thanks for the replies folks, we seem to have a majority.<br /> It's not just the pedo thing, it's also the fact that a bunch of city folks are taking a bunch of city kids up to the mountains for 4 days. <br /> I have no idea who all is going along, I don't even know specificaly where they are going. I have trained my kids about inappropriate adult behaviour, but they are in no way prepared to be running around in the woods. For example, I have taken my son to the lake a few times. This particular lake has a steep dropoff, it's over my sons head at less than 2 feet out. I told him "don't get too close to the water, it's over your head." (I've been trying to teach him to swim, he can tread water and float, but he can't swim yet.) So he gets about 2 inches from the edge, and thinks thats ok. He also treats cliffs and ravines the same way. He doesn't recognize the danger and I haven't had the oportunities to take him out much. I don't like the idea of placing my sons personal safety in the hands of someone else, especialy todays young adult.<br /> But based on the replies here, I'm going to have a long talk with the school and get more details on the trip. If it spans a weekend maybe I can go along also, as sugested above, or switch off with the wife.<br /> The ironic thing is when I lived in Virginia I lived way out in the boondocks. It was the perfect time to teach the kids but I had no time. I had a 3.5 hour roundtrip comute to work and was taking classes at the community college, as well as lots of overtime, (I was salaried, so no overtime pay, just overtime hours.) I have only recently been ableto spend time with the kids, and have vowed that no job will ever take precedence over my family again.<br /><br /> By the way DD, thats almost verbatim what I told my kids. And youre right, it's hard to do it without freaking them out.<br />Thanks for all the replies, keep em coming.

 

[Kalian]

Re: School camping trip

I just find out a little bit more about this trip. It's an enviornmental class. It's not at Mt.Shasta it's in Oroville (a nearby city) It's not camping, so to speak, they'll be staying in a dorm, and attending "enviornmental classes" all day. I told the teacher an emphatic "no!". My kid should be learning reading writing science and math, not some California political agenda crap. <br /> I don't have a problem with my kids learning facts about the enviornment in a scientific setting, but I'll be d@mned if I'll let him take time off from regular classes to attend some liberal bs thats BOUND to be politicaly motivated.

 

[KRS]

Re: School camping trip

I would say that more kids do drugs and have sexual contact with other kids than are ever molested. I would have a concern over lack of supervision leading to those problems before I was concerned about a pedophyle teacher/counselor.

 

[Kalian]

Re: School camping trip

Thats probably true KRS, it doesn't matter now though, I had bad info when I first posted. Now that I realize what the trip is about he's not going. I think that the whole envirnmental thing is a political subject and dificult for people to stand back and take a factual scientific aproach to it. No way am I going to let a govt. institution try to brainwash my kid on a political position. I don't care what the subject is or what side of the political fence they are on, they don't need to be influencing impresionable kids on subjects like that. 6th grade should be a lot of science and the "3 r's" and a little bit of social training. Not all this other crap their trying to teach the kids these days. I'll quit now before I get started. This is a pet peeve of mine.

 

[kenimpzoom]

Re: School camping trip

You could let you kid go with the knowledge that it is crap and help him ask questions to frustrate their liberal agenda. <br /><br />Ken

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: School camping trip

By all means, let's not have the minds of our young corrupted by environmental science.

 

[TexomaAv8r]

Re: School camping trip

And back on the subject of sex offender registry; the one that register are the ones that are at least at some level trying to obey the law, plenty are required but don't. I would worry more about the offender who doesn't register his/her name, address and photograph than the ones that do.