Backroads Posted June 8, 2012 Report Share Posted June 8, 2012 Saw this linked on Facebook. I'm somehow impressed by the fact that Fox considered it newsworthy.Seniors Leave Fieldtrip on Train Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 8, 2012 Report Share Posted June 8, 2012 Why would 17/18-year-old kids need a chaperone? What's magically going to happen between now and Fall when they're supposed to be on their own, going away to school? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backroads Posted June 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2012 I thought 18-year-olds were... adults. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RipplecutBuddha Posted June 8, 2012 Report Share Posted June 8, 2012 Because they were on a school associated trip, the school is accountable for their safety, health, etc. As such, Chaperones are used to monitor the students as they participate in an event off of school campus. Most of the time, in such events, no troubles are encountered, but the point of the story is that the school has a legal obligation to provide for the safety of the students from the time they depart on the trip to the time they arrive home again. In this instance, no oversight was provided by the school on the return trip, and thus the school exposed itself to legal liability if anything had happened to the students on the train. It's not about what the students could have/would have done. It's all about what could have happened to the students that the school would have been immediately liable for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beefche Posted June 8, 2012 Report Share Posted June 8, 2012 Doesn't matter if they were 18. They were seniors in high school and on a school sponsored field trip. I would expect there to be chaperons. Further, I would think the school system would WANT chaperons to avoid lawsuits or something like this--the media jumping on a perceived offense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backroads Posted June 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2012 (edited) Yet the kids and parents signed a form. It would be interesting to see a copy of it to see if it mentions that chaperones were specifically included in the warning of being 'sent home'. For all we know, the school was under all rights to do what it did. This is a charter school, not always automatically under the same policies as a regular public school. But what gets my goat is that the mother in the video was so upset at her school, yet seemed not upset at her kid for damaging property. The way I see it, if the kid is old enough to purposefully damange someone's property, he's old enough to ride a freakin' train. Edited June 8, 2012 by Backroads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beefche Posted June 9, 2012 Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 So, you are more upset by the fact that no one is talking about the kids damaging property? This isn't about chaperons? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backroads Posted June 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 Sort of. I get what you're saying about how the schools should have chaperones (I think it's silly to attempt a lawsuit when nothing happened, I doubt the school would get much more than a slap on the wrist if something was forced through, but it would behoove the school to provide chaperones). I get it from a legal perspective, but from a practical perspective I think a bunch of 18-year-olds are fine on a train. My issue is the mother of an 18-year-old boy who according to her own words has never been anywhere without an adult bawling over the fact that something might have happened to him (when nothing did), even though he and his schoolmates knew the consequences (or should have known, from reading the paper they signed). My issue is that instead of raising a kid who could function independently and responsibily without an adult present by the time he reached the age of adulthood, she constantly hovered over this kid. The moment he gets a bit of freedom, he causes chaos and faces the consequence. And she flips out that he was sent home on a perfectly safe form of transportation. And then tells the media. My issue is the at the story is about an uneventful train ride taken by ADULTS and tries to make them out at the same functional level as a third-grader. In a way, it's a sign of our sue-happy society. It won't let 18-year-olds handle themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
applepansy Posted June 9, 2012 Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 I'm glad they sent them home. The parent should be upset that her Senior High-age son caused damage. Good Grief! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruthiechan Posted June 10, 2012 Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 It looks to me that the class trip had chaperons but that the problem comes in when the kids who were sent home were sent home without a chaperon. But really, this is a stub article that does not really give you very much information to go on. Also 17 is NOT the legal age of an adult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backroads Posted June 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 Half the kids sent home were 18. That is an adult. The mother's biggest fear is that something would happen to them. Explain to me how they are in danger a week before graduation but a week after the would be perfectly safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 11, 2012 Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 Let's not pretend this has anything to do with 17/18-year olds and see it as what it really is. A get-rich-quick scheme. And that's all I have to say about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NadiaStar Posted June 13, 2012 Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 I don't know... I can understand that it would be hard to get a lawsuit when nothing happened, but the mother said her boy had never been anywhere without an adult. That could be scary for a boy, even if he is 18. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backroads Posted June 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 I don't know... I can understand that it would be hard to get a lawsuit when nothing happened, but the mother said her boy had never been anywhere without an adult. That could be scary for a boy, even if he is 18.I see what you're saying, but that's the mother's fault. No wonder he couldn't handle himself first night without mommy. Her job is a mother is to create a responsible adult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NadiaStar Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 I see what you're saying, but that's the mother's fault. No wonder he couldn't handle himself first night without mommy. Her job is a mother is to create a responsible adult.As a mother, her job is to protect her child. She knows him better than you do. 18 might not have been the right age for him. Just because society says 18 is an adult does not make it so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 As a mother, her job is to protect her child. She knows him better than you do. 18 might not have been the right age for him. Just because society says 18 is an adult does not make it so.Maybe so. But legally, 18 is an adult. So, you don't have legal recourse on that age. This is the same for a 16-year-old applying for a driver's license. The parent can insist that the child is not old enough to drive. But, if that 16-year-old child goes to the DMV and passes the test, he will get a driver's license.The fact remains that if the child would not have broken the rules, he wouldn't have been sent home on that train. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backroads Posted June 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 As a mother, her job is to protect her child. She knows him better than you do. 18 might not have been the right age for him. Just because society says 18 is an adult does not make it so.Look, I'm not a mother, but I've seen enough of society to know that there is no excuse for a person not to be acting something like an adult by the time he is 18. Protecting her child to this extent isn't going to do squat for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhsmd Posted June 20, 2012 Report Share Posted June 20, 2012 I hope that when I have kids who are 17/18 that I will have raised them well enough to trust that they won't hurt themselves on a train. If the train had wrecked without chaperones, would the parents have been mad at the school? Or if a kid wasn't wearing a seatbelt (depend on the train)? I just don't understand how much an adult is supposed to be able to control a young man or woman of that age. They can't really touch the kids, or they might be sued for assault. Oh, to see more parents willing to take responsibility for their child's actions (and let their child suffer the consequences of said actions)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NadiaStar Posted June 21, 2012 Report Share Posted June 21, 2012 Look, I'm not a mother, but I've seen enough of society to know that there is no excuse for a person not to be acting something like an adult by the time he is 18. Protecting her child to this extent isn't going to do squat for him.She's the mother. It's her JOB to protect her child. You're so obsessed with the fact the boy was 18 that you can't imagine what it's like to have a child who just isn't ready to take on the adult word, no matter what that world expects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 21, 2012 Report Share Posted June 21, 2012 (edited) She's the mother. It's her JOB to protect her child. You're so obsessed with the fact the boy was 18 that you can't imagine what it's like to have a child who just isn't ready to take on the adult word, no matter what that world expects.Unless the kid is a special needs child, I couldn't imagine what it's like to have that child either. I mean, I'm talking riding the train. My best friend sends her 3 kids to Japan every summer since they were ages 6,8, and 11. On their own. Hopping 3 planes. And yes, I thought she was crazy the first time she sent them over... Edited June 21, 2012 by anatess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NadiaStar Posted June 21, 2012 Report Share Posted June 21, 2012 Her area might not be safe enough for teaching a kid to ride the train. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 21, 2012 Report Share Posted June 21, 2012 Her area might not be safe enough for teaching a kid to ride the train.Being able to handle oneself in any situaton is not taught by riding trains... have you heard of "free range parenting"? It's a group of parents who has some method of teaching kids to be self-reliant. Okay, so the mother that started that group trained her child by riding the NYC subway... but that's just coincidence.We have scouting at Church for the boys. And my kids are in martial arts. Martial arts is not just for fighting stuff. It's a discipline that teaches a kid confidence and empowers him to lean on his own strengths to tackle obstacles - including homework. Yeah, I was quite surprised when on the first day of MMA class (my kids were 6 and 8 at that time) their martial arts teacher said he expects them to do better with their homework through martial arts discipline... when all I sent them there for is the physical exercise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NadiaStar Posted June 21, 2012 Report Share Posted June 21, 2012 Oh, right. Let's follow the ideas of a mother who purposely set her boy up in a dangerous situation. The fact was that these kids were on a train by themselves in an unfamiliar situation. Discipline has nothing to do with it. The boys being disciplined and responsible would not have saved them if a problem had arisen. What are they supposed to do? Tell a potential molester or theif they're "disciplined"? I'm all for teaching kids discipline and responsibility, but you can't say it automatically makes kids safe. Yes, the kids should not have done what they did to the plumbing, but being 18 does not magically make a kid responsible and ready for the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 21, 2012 Report Share Posted June 21, 2012 (edited) Oh, right. Let's follow the ideas of a mother who purposely set her boy up in a dangerous situation. The fact was that these kids were on a train by themselves in an unfamiliar situation. Discipline has nothing to do with it. The boys being disciplined and responsible would not have saved them if a problem had arisen. What are they supposed to do? Tell a potential molester or theif they're "disciplined"? I'm all for teaching kids discipline and responsibility, but you can't say it automatically makes kids safe. Yes, the kids should not have done what they did to the plumbing, but being 18 does not magically make a kid responsible and ready for the world.Wait, are we still talking about the 18-year-olds?If you want to guarantee these kids safety, you put them in a plastic bubble and make them wear helmets.Safety is not something a chaperone will have much to do about when it comes to 18 year olds. And neither do parents for that matter! 18 year olds can run away from chaperones and parents and there's nothing much they can do about it. Safety is the responsibility of the 18-year-old. And learning how to stay safe is learned through discipline.These same 18-year-olds can walk to school and get raped at any time at any season. You can't make them safe. They have to know how to analyze the environment and see to their own safety.And that's the theory with free-range parenting. I'm not an advocate for that method. I do find the principle sound and apply it to my children. I have a 10-year-old that ripstiks 2-miles to school everyday so that by the time he is 18, he'll be able to conquer the world... or whatever it is he needs to do... I'd settle for riding the bike tracking on a mission. But the first step is to expose the child to the world around him with the parent preparing the environment for him. Then the parent exposes the kid to more and more as he learns how to handle himself. Free-range parenting is not just throwing a kid to the wolves and see what happens. There are certain skills that you learn in order to avoid dangerous situations. How to read faces, how to always be aware of your surroundings, how to stay calm in tense situations, how to be street-smart (you won't believe how many kids are out there who doesn't know to not ride in a car just because the driver said their parents sent them over to pick them up!).You're right that age is not a consistent indicator of maturity. But, a child's development goes by a very predictable age range. Even the priesthood goes by that age predictability. So that, as a parent, you can use that age guideline to prepare your kids for what's coming next. Edited June 21, 2012 by anatess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backroads Posted June 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2012 amen, anatess. Nadia, parents have a lot of rights over their children, but it seems logical that teaching your child how to handle life would be important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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