Marching Band Cruise Trip

[ed01106]

You stated that most of the kids are relatively responsible teens, but a few are not.  

 

IMHO, simple solution:  “the trip is a privilege not a right.  Most of you have exhibited behaviors over the past year that leads us to believe you are responsible enough to handle the lower level of supervision that will occur on this cruise.  But some of you have not.  Those of you who are not being invited to join us should consider what you need to do to earn the trust of the adults who will be deciding the invite list for next years trip.  For those of you who are being invited know that this will be a zero tolerance trip.  Most of the time you won’t be supervised, but if you take advantage of the loose supervision at the next port you will be left off the ship brought to the airport and will have to fly home at your parents expense.  There will be NO warnings: first offense of breaking curfew, being in the wrong state room, playing your instrument at the wrong time, etc is the end of your cruise.  The band members that weren’t invited aren’t necessarily bad kids, it is just we have very high standards, those of you that are going on the trip it is in your best interest to validate our trust in you, for those not invited use the upcoming year to prove to us that you are responsible enough to handle being unsupervised.”   

 

I am a firm believer that field trips should not be planned based on what is necessary to keep control of the least responsible member of the group.  But rather plan the trip you want and only invite those who can handle the trip. 

 

Being mature and responsible has rewards.  Being immature and irresponsible has consequences.

[LoriPhil]

I just want to know what the OP finally decides!  (As a kiddo though, I would have been self conscious bunking down with our neighbor Mrs Wheeler as my chaperone and two of my pals in a small cabin... as an adult there's no way I would do it.  😱)

Edited September 3, 2019 by LoriPhil

[HWH]

Reputable student travel agencies do a great job with trips like this (I've chaperoned plenty of land-based student trips, but never on a cruise ship). I assume that the agency will book your group into appropriate rooms (all on the same corridor, no balconies) and that the agency will have a representative on the trip with you, so from that standpoint, monitoring the students after curfew shouldn't be any different, or any more difficult, from being in a hotel. If the agency doesn't do this at a minimum, I wouldn't work with them. And under no circumstances should adults share a room with teenagers that are not family--beyond being awkward, it is fraught with danger, and school administration will certainly not allow it.

 

My thought is that the difficulties will be dealing with any unstructured time on the ship during the day . On the plus side, the ship is a finite space so no one can get well and truly lost, but there are still many opportunities for an unsupervised teenager to make a poor decision. I'd recommend having frequent, formal, organized group activities often and require attendance. I also think it's essential that everyone have a passport, and that you do any shore excursions as a group--it is, after all, an educational experience, as well as an opportunity for group bonding.

 

Be very clear about the expectations you have about behavior--i.e. no playing instruments in staterooms, etc.--as well as the consequences for not living up to these expectations.

 

Really, my biggest concern would be that the chaperones might not all be on the same page. It's too easy to picture a bunch of parents volunteering, and then disappearing to enjoy the cruise. Or worse, as the poster above describes. I personally wouldn't do this unless a critical mass of the chaperones were teachers, who have a bit more incentive to manage the students than parents, and any parent chaperones that do sign on need to have "earned their stripes" chaperoning other band events prior to the cruise.

 

[mjkacmom]

18 hours ago, ed01106 said:

You stated that most of the kids are relatively responsible teens, but a few are not.  

 

IMHO, simple solution:  “the trip is a privilege not a right.  Most of you have exhibited behaviors over the past year that leads us to believe you are responsible enough to handle the lower level of supervision that will occur on this cruise.  But some of you have not.  Those of you who are not being invited to join us should consider what you need to do to earn the trust of the adults who will be deciding the invite list for next years trip.  For those of you who are being invited know that this will be a zero tolerance trip.  Most of the time you won’t be supervised, but if you take advantage of the loose supervision at the next port you will be left off the ship brought to the airport and will have to fly home at your parents expense.  There will be NO warnings: first offense of breaking curfew, being in the wrong state room, playing your instrument at the wrong time, etc is the end of your cruise.  The band members that weren’t invited aren’t necessarily bad kids, it is just we have very high standards, those of you that are going on the trip it is in your best interest to validate our trust in you, for those not invited use the upcoming year to prove to us that you are responsible enough to handle being unsupervised.”   

 

I am a firm believer that field trips should not be planned based on what is necessary to keep control of the least responsible member of the group.  But rather plan the trip you want and only invite those who can handle the trip. 

 

Being mature and responsible has rewards.  Being immature and irresponsible has consequences.

That would never fly at a public school.

[ed01106]

51 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

That would never fly at a public school.

It could, but would require a more formal approach.  Like any student who has had three or more detentions during the school year( or has received a demerit during the year for misbehaving from the band director or some other sort of policy) is ineligible to participate.  Picking a mature/immature roster without criteria would not fly with a public school. With a scout or church group, “your child is too immature and not welcome “ is sufficient.