Compulsory Overseas Trip

[daisyt]

nani:

Not sure if you are talking about complusory here. Reading on the negatives of safety and street kids in Jakarta already turn me off from visiting relatives there, dont even talk about school doing service trip there :shock: .


Again, I just dont understand what are the school objectives by sending our kids to 3rd world countries for service?? If is just to let them know how fortunate they are, I would rather they make it complusory for all schools to service the orphange here or even schedule schools to help with distributing food from the heart, etc. SERVICE can be found and start within our own country, need not make us PAY and risk our kids overseas!!

Just my 2 cents.

Nani, its not compulsory for my case here, but they are highly encouraged. My point of view in this case is, if I need to sign a letter of indemnity, I am taking the risk. Then I would need to consider, if I want to take this risk and is it worth to take the risk for this purpose. In life, there are always many risks we have to take or want to take because we feel it is worth it. Eg. changing job, taking an exciting coaster ride, going tough hiking like csc and ks2me mentioned. I know of some peoples who feel that marriage or having children is a kind of risk taking and they do not want to take this risk. Back to my case here, going to a place I feel is not safe, for this objective, I think its not worth to take the risk and hence do not want to take the risk.

Normally, we ourselves don't feel the pinch when we decide to take up a risk. It is always our love ones would feel it more than us.

And thanks summer for sharing your niece's case here. :celebrate:

[csc]

Talking about risks, I don’t think any school will send their students abroad to a country deemed to be in a risky and dangerous situation. The school must have measured the risk factors involved and maybe get the necessary approval from MOE before going ahead with the trip.


Schools are also accountable to the parents and MOE for their actions as well. I doubt they will subject themselves to unnecessary risks. I understand that many overseas trips were cancelled due to H1N1 last year.

But again, what is considered risk is subjective.

A friend of mine thinks that climbing Mount Ophir is very risky after hearing about incidents of people being killed by a falling branch on that track. She won’t even climb Bukit Timah Hill for fear of falling branches.

Of course, we should never be rash but I believe our destiny and lives are in God’s hands. There is no prevention if it were meant to happen.

[snowz]

csc:

Talking about risks, I don't think any school will send their students abroad to a country deemed to be in a risky and dangerous situation. The school must have measured the risk factors involved and maybe get the necessary approval from MOE before going ahead with the trip.


Schools are also accountable to the parents and MOE for their actions as well. I doubt they will subject themselves to unnecessary risks. I understand that many overseas trips were cancelled due to H1N1 last year.

But again, what is considered risk is subjective.

A friend of mine thinks that climbing Mount Ophir is very risky after hearing about incidents of people being killed by a falling branch on that track. She won't even climb Bukit Timah Hill for fear of falling branches.

Of course, we should never be rash but I believe our destiny and lives are in God's hands. There is no prevention if it were meant to happen.

Well said, agree wholeheartedly! :salute: :rahrah:

[csc]

Actually hor, washing cups and bowls, bringing cups and plates to sink, making beds have nothing to do with independence - at least in my opinion.


They are responsiblities expected of family members living within the same household.

The children in my household are expected to do that - nothing to do with inculcating independence. In other words, compulsory activities at home and even at grandma's home. :lol:

[daisyt]

csc:

But again, what is considered risk is subjective.

Yap ! Agree ! Risk measurement is very subjective and individual. I remember all my friends (except one) told me its too risky to choose IP schools, not taking \"O\" level but we went ahead to to take this \"risk\" :lol: Sorry ... OT ...

[corneyAmber]

daisyt:

csc:

But again, what is considered risk is subjective.

Yap ! Agree ! Risk measurement is very subjective and individual. I remember all my friends (except one) told me its too risky to choose IP schools, not taking \"O\" level but we went ahead to to take this \"risk\" :lol: Sorry ... OT ...

Academic risks is never detrimental because you are still learning even if the route is wrong.

There is another thing called risk exposure, the more you expose yourself to risk, your exposure increases which means probability goes up.

This is a personal view, children(in primary level) should be children....and they will always have the limitation of physical size when in trouble, like it or not, even if the brain size is larger than the adults.

I used to be irked by my dad waiting for me at the void deck, but my brother made a valid point to me that changed my mind. He told me that it would only take one accident to destroy you. So I appreciated dad's effort instead.

[daisyt]

ks2me:

I used to be irked by my dad waiting for me at the void deck, but my brother made a valid point to me that changed my mind. He told me that it would only take one accident to destroy you. So I appreciated dad's effort instead.

Yes, fully agree.

[mrswongtuition]

nani:

daisyt:

hi nani, for my case, the school is paying everything. However, to me, its not about who is paying. My main concern is safety in Jakarta. I am thinking if the school would want the parents to sign any Letter of Indemnity for such trips. :?

Not sure if you are talking about complusory here. Reading on the negatives of safety and street kids in Jakarta already turn me off from visiting relatives there, dont even talk about school doing service trip there :shock: .

Again, I just dont understand what are the school objectives by sending our kids to 3rd world countries for service?? If is just to let them know how fortunate they are, I would rather they make it complusory for all schools to service the orphange here or even schedule schools to help with distributing food from the heart, etc. SERVICE can be found and start within our own country, need not make us PAY and risk our kids overseas!!

Just my 2 cents.

Problem with planning service learning locally:
Parents feel that it's a waste of time and that their kids should be home studying instead.

Honestly, I have parents who write in to give all sorts of excuses so their kids don't have to do CIP. When I ask the kids what they did at home while we went, they said their parents forced them to study.

No matter what MOE does, there'll definitely be ppl who are upset/angry with the system or disagree with it. There's never a policy that will please everyone.

If this overseas trip thing is really bugging you and your family and the school is totally not supportive in assuring you, then it might be best to homeschool your child instead of having to 'live through' the system.

Teachers also love the kids and don't want anything bad to happen. We do put in alot of effort into ensuring their safety. If we have to report every move to the parents, it'll be extra work and we won't be able to totally focus on preparing for the trip and keeping the kids safe.

Can you guarantee that nothing will happen to your child on a family holiday, locally or overseas?
Can you guarantee that nothing will happen to your child even if you are at home the entire day?

If you really can't get over this issue, then take your child out of the system and homeschool. With homeschooling, you can 'control' the environment, the learning content and the learning experience. Maybe that will save you the frustration

Sometimes thinking about it too much just makes us feel more frustrated and cloud our judgement and objectiveness (just like how I keep thinking if I've chosen the right pre-school for my boy). Take a break and not read this thread for a while then slowly think through about it. Being in the system means you need to accept policies and plan around it. If really can't accept then no point making you and your child frustrated. Just find alternatives and move out of the system.

[wonderm]

mrswongtuition:

Teachers also love the kids and don't want anything bad to happen. We do put in alot of effort into ensuring their safety. If we have to report every move to the parents, it'll be extra work and we won't be able to totally focus on preparing for the trip and keeping the kids safe.

mrswongtuition, thanks to teachers like yourself, our children have the opportunities to attend many interesting and enriching activities and programmes both locally and overseas. Just want to let you know not everyone disagrees with the system. We really appreicate the effort from the schools, especially the teachers. Our kids feel grateful to their teachers too. We are glad that they enjoy their school lives even though it can be demanding.

[daisyt]

Agree with mrswongtution, its not an easy task for the teachers. Don't talk about overseas, I have a teacher friend, already feel so stress up when bringing the kids to NDP. After they reach school, the teachers cannot leave the school until all parents picked up the children. By the time she left school, its about midnight. The most ridiculous thing she told me was, one parent, actually forgot had to pick up the child at a certain time. When she called the parent, she was sleeping. :shock: If its not she told me, I won't believe such story lor. :lol: :!:


Anyway, I am not against such system. So far, I have not come across any compulsory camps or trips for my dd. The schools would leave it to the parents to decide.