Thirteen-year-old Ana Tennover says studying
the American Revolution in class is fine, but visiting historical
sites in Washington, D.C., brings the lesson to life.
“It’s better to go see them for yourself with
your eyes rather than read a book,” she says.
That “field trip,” which lasted 10 days and nine
nights, is a growing trend. Student travel has increased 25%
in the past decade, and it has become a billion-dollar-a-year
industry.
Ana says that when kids go on an overnight field trip, their
behavior changes.
“Like their personality changes, they get wild or something
because they’re not in school,” she says.
“Like jumping around, throwing stuff in the room when
you’re not supposed to, stuff like that,” 13-year-old
Kyle Wilborn adds.
How can parents feel safe about their child’s field
trip? Experts say check out the chaperones: how many are there,
what kind of experience do they have and what are their rules,
especially in the hotel at night.
“I’d want to find out what their parenting approach
is in general. I would like it to be similar to mine,”
says Dr. Alexandra Phipps, a psychologist. “I would
want to make sure that the chaperone doesn’t have super-high
tolerance for any kind of behavior … running up and
down the halls at three, four in the morning.”
And parents should remind their children of the immediate
consequences that exist for misbehavior.
“It’s that cut and dry – safety first –
so if you went against what we asked you to do, then you have
to go back home,” teacher-chaperone Suzan Thornton says.
And the long-term consequences?
“So if they don’t do well on this trip, if they
get into a lot of trouble, they won’t be able to be
going on any other trips,” Dr. Phipps says.
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