Lost a Child on a School Field Trip!!

I agree that they need better field trip protocol. If the principal is the one responsible for determining that, then talk to the principal. Sometimes, things just happen. Even organized groups can have a straggler. BUT, I think this incident would have been avoided with assigned students. It's really just dense that they didn't do that. Definitely, bring this up and don't let it go.

I would talk to the principal too. I remember when being on these trips as a kid and being assigned to a chapperonne - that's why they go.

"I am very upset about this.. I feel bad for the kid that got lost.. I will never send my child on a field trip if I cant attend.."

Just to give you a heads up, there will come a time when parents are not able to attend trips due to lack of space and whatnot. Possibly as soon as next year, you'll start seeing permissions slips that specifically say they can't accommodate parents. As she gets older, being held out because mom is paranoid will not work out well.

" I will never send my child on a field trip if I cant attend.."

Really? I think you are just upset.. I do not blame you. Actually, you will do your child a disservice if you do not allow her to experience going on a few field trips without you..These are experiences that will help her learn how to behave, how to stay with the group and how to deal with different situations. Be sure to use this as a learning event.

I would speak with the teacher first. You never go above someones head without speaking with them first. If then you feel you need to speak with the Principal great, but give the teacher a heads up.

Wouldn't you want someone to speak with you first and then let you know they are reporting your mistake to your superior?

Let the teacher know your concerns.. ask her what the schools rules are about these field trips. Is there a ratio of adults to children.. by age or grade?

Ask her what she thinks went wrong. Ask her what she plans to do in the future. IF you have constructive ideas.. or suggestions.. tell her know them and give her a copy of them..

I remember when our daughters 3rd grade visited the Gov. Mansion here in Austin. One of the children stole a tennis racket!!!! This was not discovered until we returned to school. We adults were all in charge of watching 5 children each.. This child just for some unexplained reason picked it up and carried it to the bus!!! The teacher had to return it..

Then in the 4th grade this same group of kids visited the State Capital Building and met a Senator. One of the children mentioned to this Senator that in one of the photographs that one of the Senators had died that week.. This Senator was VERY good friends with the "dead Senator "and was very upset by this news.. Can you imagine? The teachers were mortified and asked this boy "why on earth would you say this." He shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know"..

What I am trying to express is that children cannot always be controlled, things happen even when everything is perfectly organized. Sure adults are there to watch over them, to make sure they all stay together.. etc.. but not everything can be perfectly controlled. We MUST teach our children their part of the responsibilities and expectations.

Work WITH this teacher to come up with solutions.. Be proactive not reactive. She will appreciate it.

OMG I would be absolutely livid if I found out that this happened, even more so if I was the parent of that child.

I would not hesitate for a second to talk to the principal about this. I am in disbelief that a field trip was even handled in such poor fashion to begin with. EVERY field trip I have attended, chaperones were always assigned a group of children to be responsible for and the classroom teacher's only job was to be the floater and randomly check in with each chaperone through out the day to confirm a head count.

Oh Lisa, I am SO sorry. This is really awful and should not be taken lightly. During the scads of fieldtrips I've chaperoned, I've spent more time than I can even say, counting the kids in my ASSIGNED group, over and over!! It's always in the back of my mind. In chaperoning HIGH schoolers, I STILL COUNT! (And help them remember their stuff, just like when they were little. It's amazing how teens will just leave their stuff laying around. The last thing I rescued was an Algebra II Trig book!)

Please do the school a huge favor and prevent a disaster. Go talk to the principal. The school needs to have a POLICY for all the teachers so that this can't happen again. This teacher evidently can't think this through on her own, OR she is too lazy to. Either way, the school needs to take this in hand.

I just want to add that my kids have certainly gone on field trips without me. But we've ALWAYS had assigned groups - never what you experienced. After this debacle, I don't fault you for feeling like you won't send her if you're not there, but if they DO put a proper policy in place, you should feel better about letting her go. Field trips are educational and children need to be able to attend them.

i would talk to the principal - i would NOT get all dramatic and mama bear about it. that solves nothing. and these things will happen no matter how organized a trip is. keep that in mind. but yes, i would talk to the principal and make sure he/she knows what happened, and steps that could have prevented it. look at this as an opportunity to solve a problem. not a chance to get all irate and get "justice".

PS i understand your actual question was how upset would we be - i would be VERY upset. that is the truth. but as one of the moms on the trip you have a responsibility to help this situation - not get wrapped up in righteous indignation. kwim??

Oh my god - I would have been absolutely livid if my child (or any other child, for that matter) got "lost" on a field trip. So yes, there is no doubt in my mind that I'd be in the principal's office first thing the next morning. It's every parent's worst nightmare... you entrust your precious children to a school and that school does not cherish and protect them.

Please please please talk to the principal. She needs to know that this field trip was disorganized so she can help the teachers plan better next time.

Hell yes I'd talk to the principal. We always had a parent in charge of a certain number of kids. We usually got our own kid, and 4 or 5 of his friends to keep track of. That way you know who is missing and who is accounted for!! How scary for that child, glad you were there to offer her some comfort.

Oh, for eff's sake. Kids get lost when there's chaos. The teacher very well probably had a good head count but then kids move. They wander. They go where they shouldn't. I have a child that's an eloper, and she doesn't think about it... she just wanders. It's a problem. It's part of her Autism. She wears a medical ID bracelet for if/when it occurs.

I agree that the whole field trip seemed disorganized per your description. The school could have requested that all of the children wear the same/similar color shirt that day. They could have had the children wear name tags that had the name of the school on the tags with a number assigned to each tag, and on the teacher's clip board have that number assigned to a name. They could have directed the children to hold hands and not let go. Or to stand against a wall. They could have had another bus.

Could have, but hindsight is 20/20. And luckily there was an officer there that located the child immediately.

I think that by refusing to allow your child to ever go on a field trip that you can't go on too is over-reacting. There are going to be many trips where parents are not allowed especially as your child gets older. What needs to happen is more communication between the parents and the teachers, and if you feel that the plans aren't detailed enough then you press the issue until you're satisfied that safety protocols are actually safe enough.

it was certainly poorly managed. and i'll bet it never happens again.
the problem with raising a huge stink is that huge stinks don't ensure that safeguards are put into place, huge stinks simply cause schools to stop doing fun things like field trips. and recess. and phys ed.
instead of going in guns blazing, go in with suggestions of how it could be done better in the future, and offers to help.
khairete
S.

Yes, you should DEFINITELY talk to the principal. It is totally unacceptable for students of that age to NOT be assigned to specific chaperones. The principal needs to make sure that they have safe field trip procedures in place, and to hold the teachers accountable for following the procedures.

ETA: I would not leave this just in the teacher's hands. The principal MUST know. I once worked at a daycare where one of the teachers mistakenly locked 1 student in the center at the end of the day when we all went to the park (where the parents pick up the kids.) Another parent discovered the forgotten boy and came and told us at the park. I went to get the poor kid, and when I got back the teacher looked at me and begged me not to tell the director what happened. Uh, fat chance! Administration needs to know about negligence.

Was the lost little girl assigned to your bus? If not, than the teacher was correct in saying that your bus had the right count and could head out.

Just saying.

However this sounds terribly upsetting and yes I'd call the principal. And I am not one to call the principal.

But just know that among the chaos you may not have the full story, perhaps teacher was trying to send off the organized half of the class before she went on the wild goose chase for the missing girl. Teacher *may* have been more in control of the situation than you percieved, she's spent the better part of a year wrangling these kids day in day out. You never know, just trying to see all sides here. Sounds like your overall experience of the event was that it was disorganized enough to raise concern, whether there was a lost one or not.

I chaperone large groups of Jr. Highers to field trips several times a year, and never do we get on a bus and take off without a full check off list, name by name of who is supposed to be on it. And these are kids who have cell phones and resources and would not freak out if left behind.

I would be highly upset with the organization of the field trip. In fact, I would have assigned the groups myself if the teacher wouldn't have. No way you can keep the kids straight without knowing who is in your group. It doesn't matter if your child knows how to look for someone in charge, I'm sure they would be upset that their group just left them. I would definitely bring this up with the teacher and principal. Hopefully she will learn from this.

The best way I've seen field trips organized for the younger kids is to have a piece of paper pinned to the kid's shirt with a number. So, for example, 5 kids in a group will have red apples pinned to their shirt, numbered one through five and the chaperone for that group will have a red apple pinned to their shirt. Other group has an orange, banana, etc. Or red bears, blue bears, it could be whatever you want. It makes it so easy to keep track of who is supposed to be watching who and you know instantly if someone is missing, especially for parents who aren't familiar with the other kids in the class. The kids know what adult they are supposed to stay with.

Cripes, I was the youngest of 3 and had 3 older cousins that came over often. Dad would haul us all out to the country to sled, or to go rollerskating, or whatever. I can't count the number of times they lost or forgot me. I quickly learned to stay put and eventually they'd realize I was missing.

If you think this is bad, imagine my girlfriend who was one of two teachers on a student trip to China. They LOST a kid in the Shanhai market. For FOUR hours. Can you imagine?

Yes, I'm sure everyone was upset and embarassed and rightfully so, but what better place to be lost than in sea of other students and policemen and school busses. Could have been much worse.

I 100% agree with you, and do not think it is a 6 year old's responsibility to "find the group". I have a 6 year old, whose attention can get caught at the slightest thing, and could easily be distracted and look around one minute, and the group is gone. Would these parents on here be mad at their own child if they got lost from them at the mall? Well, probably.
Anyway, please talk to the principal, and the teachers. Help them understand and implement the assigned groups for the future field trips. This is too important to let go.
If they could "lose" a wandering child that easily, think how easy it would have been for a predator to take one of them...

I would be very upset considering the teacher said she had a good count. When our kids go on a field trip parents are assigned to groups and the teacher has the kids count off.....................very scary when so many kids were at that event

I can totally understand being upset...who wouldn't be. What a horrible feeling for everyone.

At the same time, it is an important time to teach your little one how important it is to pay attention to their surroundings, stay together, don't panic, and know their telephone number.

Living in the dessert, everyone has a swimming pool. My first grader still can't swim. She can paddle, but not swim. She fell in when she was four and I jumped in after her. It was horrible. Because of all the pools, I cannot say she will never go in a pool again. I have to continue to put her in swim lessons.

Don't give up. Talk to the principal and ask that better measures be put in place.

You give a much bigger description than my daughter comes home and tells. She always says, "There were other schools too".

That's horrible! I would definitely talk to the school principal. Field trips at any grade level need to be extremely well organized. Ours always have parents assigned to watch particular kids. Without that, it would be so easy for a bus to take off while a child is in the bathroom or wandering off to look at something.

I would talk to the teacher and possibly the principal. Find out what the protocol is supposed to be. Anytime I have specifically chaperoned a trip, I have been assigned about 4-6 kids. If you are not really familiar with the class, you can easily lose track of one child. But if you have a small group of kids to wrangle, you can keep an eye out for "the blonde with the blue coat, the boy with the hat" etc. In MS, there were classes where I really only knew two kids but successfully chaperoned my assigned set of kids.

I got lost twice on field trips, in 5th and 6th grades. Once I was in a gift shop and didn't see my group leave (so I went back to the buses) and another time I went back through an exhibit to find my bag and my own mother kept going. That time I turned myself into lost and found.

So, anyway, I would find out what was supposed to happen and bring up the concern that you as a chaperone felt that you were not able to properly chaperone the trip since you weren't assigned a sub-group of kids. Obviously that didn't work b/c someone got lost (and I totally expect those parents to call the school). It also sounds like someone counted heads only and not actual kids. They should have specifically called names to find out if any particular child was missing. The teacher who told the driver to go was remiss, too. Tell them it was upsetting to the children and to you as a chaperone and parent and ask how things can be changed so the next time isn't your kid nearly left behind.

If this is standard in that school, I'd certainly be working to get it changed so that I didn't have to worry come the time (and it didn't happen for us til late MS or early HS that parents weren't asked to chaperone) when my child wanted to go and I could not.

And how upset would I be? VERY. They didn't have a good system for the venue (tons of little kids from different schools, your classes getting on two buses with no specific roll call? Hello?) and my child in particular would probably never want to go on a field trip again if she were lost.

I would be livid. I would attend the next PTA meeting and ask the principal what is being done to prevent this from happening in the future and keep going until you get an appropriate answer.

What really gets me is that I am certain that this is not the teachers' first field trip. There should definitely be strict protocol followed when taking the students on field trips and they should know better.

Before my daughter was part of her current Girl Scout troop I heard that a similar thing happened on one of their field trips. I do have great reservations of sending her on any of the larger field trips. I will be honest, I have chaperoned other field trips since and these leaders obviously did not learn their lesson. I joke that they just count heads but do not pay any attention to the faces...as long as there is a head. They also give these 4th graders way more free reign than I feel is appropriate in large public venues.

So I can appreciate your sentiment that they will never go on another field trip you don't chaperone. I guess you just need to let this run its course and see where it ends. I think you'll be a lot more successful with a public school than a little Girl Scout troop.

I would be livid. In child care this would never happen or that teacher would be terminated on the spot.

We are supposed to have a head count at all times. To know exactly where each child that is assigned to us is at all times. I can keep track of up to 25 kids all by myself because I am constantly counting heads. I don't even pay attention to what's going on at the show or where ever we are because my attention is on the kids and what they are doing. This would not have happened to a kid in my class so I cannot condone this happening with a teacher who is supposed to manage these kids on a daily basis without assistance from parents or other teachers.

I would talk to the principal, this is not ok. I go on field trips all the time with my children's school and we are always given a list of a few kids that are ours to watch.

That's crazy! They're in first grade. We always have an adults assigned to specific children. It was asking for trouble with the classes split up too. Teacher sounds like an idiot to me. She told the driver she had a good count and was wrong!! Inexcusable to me.

This should not have happened. I'd guess that this teacher got into trouble when she returned to the school. I imagine the parents of that girl will not let this slide. I would talk with the teacher and then the principal about it to relieve my own mind.

My child is now in 4th grade and I'll just now let him go with his class and without me. 1st grade is just too young. I agree with you totally. I would talk with the principal. You're right, the adults attending should have split the kids into groups and been responsible for those kids.

I would have been more upset with my child for having left the group than with the teachers for misplacing him. If it did happen to my kids I would not have been particularly worried, because I have taught my kids from a young age what they should do if they are lost. They would know to look for a "safe" adult to help them, and they would know the name of their school, the name of their teacher, their parents names, their phone numbers etc. By the time kids are school age they are expected to be responsible for staying with the group and following directions, so I would not expect the school to change the way things are done on field trips.

Oh, Lisa,

How very, very awful. The teacher managed this just terribly. Whenever my son's class takes a field trip, lists are handed out days before as to which parent will be supervising which group of children. The teacher is very careful to ensure that no parent has more than one 'challenging' kid within their group (or their parent is asked to accompany the child for the trip). She's a pro and very organized.

I understand your concern and apprehension. I would speak directly with the principal right away, and make sure to do it in a calm manner. The school should have a written field trip policy for all teachers, perhaps depending on grade (for parent: child ratios) but some very clear protocol for handling any activities which are outside of school property. That teacher's philosophy that 'we'll all watch them' is *exactly* how students get lost. All the adults are counting on everyone else to keep track of the kids we can't see.

As a parent who has been on field trips, I can tell you that it's work enough keeping track of four kindergarteners. I would be distressed and frustrated as well.

Talk to the principal, be solution-oriented. Do not throw the teacher under the bus (I'm sure it's already been brought to the principal's attention and that they ARE upset about it.), but be clear that it was very, very upsetting for you as a parent, most especially for the child (I am sure her parents are furious) and that you would like to see a clear policy of assigning parents to specific kids in place for the future. Otherwise you can't, in good conscience, send your own child on the next field trip. Let them know that you would like to follow up on this, and if they don't follow up, do it yourself.

My guess is that this will make for positive change. Hard experience, so now they will have to learn from it.

ETA: I usually suggest talking to the teacher first, however, in this case A. this was a stupid, totally preventable mistake and teachers should KNOW this and B. this problem stems from a larger problem, being the lack of school policy.

It happens, unfortunately. All was resolved before it got too bad, but you can bet I'd be mad as hell if I saw it happen or if it was my kid. I think with that many adults, it shouldn't have been hard to keep a count on everyone though. The teacher and all of you parents were responsible for all of the kids. I'd honestly be just as mad at the chaperones as the teacher if my kid was left. You sign up to be responsible for the kids while you are on the trip, so you all have the same responisbility.

Someone didn't count right, was it the teacher or the other parents? With teachers on both buses, it shouldn't have happened.

I would talk to the principal and voice your concerns. I'm sure the poor girls parents are doing the same. These are kindergarteners not 4th graders. They are not experienced with field trips or aware of what is going on in large groups.

And I just have to say, please disregard the comment about parents being busy bodies. These are our children, we are all responsible.

That would upset me also.
When my kids go on field trips the teacher requires a certain amount of chaperones or they don't go. She then assigns 4-5 kids per parent/chaperone.
When my 4 y/o goes on field trips he is required to wear his bright yellow pre-school shirt so the kids are easily spotted.

If the teacher did not assign groups the parents should have. We always did that on field trips. Even in reality six adults should have been able to keep track of 24 kids that I hope were holding hands. Teachers were always good about letting the parents form the groups.

Lesson learned and happy it ended well.

Definitely talk to the principal. They need to read a list of names and have each person reply that they are on the bus..rather than just guess. They also need to assign each chaperone to a small group of kids as you suggested. Both of those things would have helped in this case. You can go to the principal and ask what policies are in place and suggest these options. It's what most schools do.

That's scary. Ultimately, I fault the adults, but an older 6 or 7 year old should be a little more aware of what's going on, too.

Even on a kid assigned field trip with 7 parent chaperones and the teacher, our recent zoo field trip was a disaster.

Not sure what I would do. I'm sure the principal already knows. I think it's a good opportunity to assess how field trips are handled.

Talk to the principal!

I think you should be talking to the principal. If nothing else at least address that the driver was told the count was good and he could leave, when in fact you were missing someone.

I can beat that. I sent my son to a camp 2 hours away. And I got the pick up time mixed up. He'd gone through separation anxiety when I dropped him off, which was guilt inducing enough, but then getting pick up time wrong....I got there in record time and still surprised no cop stopped me for speeding!!!! And he was fine and enjoying a little more time by the pond.
Look, no matter how much planning is done, things can still go wrong. In a crowd like you describe, it's bound to happen that kids get jostled out of their line and 'misplaced'. The cop was on top of it. I really think you're over reacting. The kid was upset. Of course. And the nice cop was there. For whatever reason, your kid will experience getting upset at some point in life. As a parent you can't hold their hand forever. This event was organized to the best of everyone's ability. To not allow your child to attend if you can't be there to hold his/her hand is a disservice to your child. Not all parents are able to do this. Should that then limit the field trips for kids? I don't think so. There are guidelines. And there are things that could be done to improve chances of no 'missing kids'. Like color code everyone, or use shapes to identify a block of kids. 'Triangle section on bus B", "Rectangle group on bus A".

Oh I would be LIVID! Thank God everyone made it back, so scary for that child. Definitely worth a chat with he principal, people don't send their kids to school to be put in harm's way, so glad you were therefor your daughter!

This is why as a club sponsor, I do not allow parents on field trip buses. They can follow in cars. I take other teachers and their spouses on the bus. They have a better handle on things without being busy bodies.