Parents More Wary of Field Trips
YOU wave goodbye to your laughing, excited child as he sets off on a school trip, only to welcome back a stiff and cold body.
That fear alone is enough for parents to hold a tight rein on their children when it comes to school co-curricular activities. The recent “accidents” in the last three months do not help.
*Hasnah Ali is one parent who is gripped by fear every time her primary schoolchildren go off on a school trip.
“I know they are getting a lot of good experience. These field trips help them a lot and they get to see many things but it is really frightening to see them go,” says the mother of two.
Her daughter recently went for a trip to a village, but what she told Hasnah when she came home sent a chill down her spine.
“She told me about how she was scared to walk on the small embankment along the paddy fields.
“Instantly it occurred to me that any one of the pupils could have lost their balance and fallen into the water. Fortunately, nothing happened. But what if something had?” she shares.
Secondary school teacher and parent of three,* P. Mahindra is another who is not too keen on sending his children on excursions, especially if they involve water activities or hiking.
“I know from experience that it is sometimes hard to take care of all the children, especially if there are many of them. Children sometimes don’t understand what could be dangerous,” he says, adding that he does not mind day trips to factories or a museum for example.
Mahindra recommends that school authorities find out the health condition of each and every student before they participate in any physical activities.
He recalls several incidents where students suffered from asthma attacks during cross-country runs.
“They shouldn’t have run but they didn’t inform the school of their condition. We tell the children not to run if they can’t, but some of them don’t want to be left out.”
Parent *Kalwant Kaur says she too gets scared when her children are out on trips, but maintains that they are important for their development.
“There is always fear, but if you don’t let them go, they will be missing out on a lot of exposure and opportunities to build their confidence,” she says.
She has just allowed her son to go on an overnight hiking trip with the scouts. She is one who believes that some things are meant to happen.
“Sometimes these things are fated to happen and is God’s will,” she says.
Kalwant, who is a teacher, reveals that after the Kuala Dipang incident, many parents at her school were reluctant to allow their children to go on school trips.
“If the parents don’t allow the children to go, we can’t force them,” she says.
Kalwant recalls that during one of her school outings, a few of the students decided to wander off by themselves, causing temporary panic. Luckily though, the students were not too far off, she says.
“There will always be some who are more adventurous than others,” she says.
Ex-dragon boat competitor * Chow agrees.
“From the news reports, it seems like this whole dragon boat incident was only an accident. I was a member of the first ever Dragon boat racing team my school had sent to compete back in 1953. Back then, our school wanted every member of the team to be swimmers. I wasn’t a swimmer myself but they let me be on the team as I was a strong guy. What I don’t understand is, how is it that so many years later, people still can’t swim?”
According to Chow, nobody wore lifejackets back then but he thinks everyone should be made to wear one when competing now. “There were those who died despite wearing them. Maybe they hadn’t buckled their lifejackets properly? Everyone should be taught the proper way to wear them,” he says.
Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, chairperson of Parent Action Group for Education (Page) believes that Malaysian schools are still generally lax in safety.
“When you go camping or on an outing, it is a fun and social activity for students, so they become less alert. Even the teachers want to have fun and socialise, so they too become careless.”
Danger in long journeys
She says transport is her main concern when her children go on trips outside school.
“Page believes that risks are there when they go on long journeys, for example, when they take chartered buses. In my opinion, our children are more in danger from accidents on the road. I think we should impose compulsory seat belts for school buses, especially for school trips.”
The main issue, she adds, is that many schools are too ambitious about their outdoor activities.
“For example, instead of taking one class, they want to take all, charter many buses.
As you know, the bigger the group, the bigger the risk.
All activities outside school have risks that can be minimised as long as schools do not become too ambitious, she opines.
“Risk must be measured. For example, when you go out on bus trips, avoid travelling at night or too far; say for KL schools, when you can go to Malacca, why go to Langkawi?”
Azimah feels that one area that is not getting enough attention is the danger of lightning.
“It is important for us in Malaysia where the weather is unpredictable. We also have a high frequency of lightning incidents.
“Many schools make their students continue their co-curricular activities, sports training and games on the field when thunder and lightning start. It has been proven that lightning is worse in the beginning of a storm, before the rain falls.”
The Education Ministry needs to train their teachers about this and come up with guidelines for teachers on what to do during lightning, she stresses.
Most parents agree that it is their right to sue the school and Education Ministry if there is proof of negligence on their part.
“Parents should sue to set precedence and let this be a deterrent to schools from being careless with their students’ life. However, it is important to strike a balance, they should also give the school support if they are not at fault,” says Azimah.
“Co-curricular activities are good for our children and they really look forward to these activities and trips with their friends. For some urban kids that might be their only chance to experience the outdoors.
Hasnah believes that the schools push all the responsibility to the parents by making them sign an indemnity form.
“In a way, the students have to go but when they make you sign that form, they are saying that they are not responsible for anything untoward. But if you refuse to sign it, your child won’t be able to participate in the activity,” she says.
However, lawyer Avtaran Singh points out that a permission slip is not a defence and cannot absolve the school from any responsibility.
“You cannot contract yourself out of negligence. It is only an authorisation from a parent allowing a student to go, but the duty of care is imposed by law and will hold,” he says.
Source: The Star/Dailymail UK
Popularity: 3% [?]
Category: Issues