<p>I’m actually glad to hear of the marching band requirements in other schools bc it makes me feel better that our school requires it too. S1 will be dropping band for next year in 9th grade. The Junior High band marched in the homecoming parade and he actually said it was fun. But he can’t do that and volleyball. Now S2 may choose it over volleyball when the time comes. We’ll see!!</p>
<p>@3girls, I’ve heard some very good comments about the experience with host families in China.</p>
<p>What is NSLI-Y?</p>
<p>Yep, she plays oboe. :-)</p>
<p>Ok, I seem to be in to minority in my thinking on an issue…my H and D’s friend’s parents seem to disagree with me…so I wondered what your thoughts would be…</p>
<p>D and friends have no set plans for Halloween. So, they came up (yesterday) with this grand plan of going camping…by themselves. There is a campground not too far from here that has rustic cabins you can rent…very rustic, …but other than that you are on your own. The group that they were thinking of would be 3-4 girls (16 yrs old, none of whom are campers). One parent seems to have no problem, the other wants a certain boy (also 16…longtime friend) to go along. I think it’s a NO GO all the way around. D hasn’t even spent the night in our house without us (which I think I would let her do…if we can think of someplace for H and I to go lol)…, much less setting out to the woods, unsupervised, on Halloween weekend…with no more preplanning than “Hey this will be fun…” just no, and adding a teen boy…I understand why, and don’t have concerns about his behavior, but would have concerns about his friends deciding to join them… </p>
<p>I am just a bit floored that my H and another one of the parents seem to think it’s just fine…What are they thinking? This is not a secure, family campground type place. It used to be a girl scout camp, but is no longer but is made available to whoever, small groups, etc…could be full, could be empty. So, I am sticking with NO. but what would you say?</p>
<p>I would say NO!!!</p>
<p>shoboemom…Let me preface this by saying I’m considered a lenient parent when it comes to giving permission for certain things. But I am with you on this one. Why in the world would 3-4 16 year old girls who have never camped with an adult think it’s a good idea to camp on their own? I would say no also. Can’t they just have a sleepover in someone’s basement and watch scary movies?</p>
<p>NO.</p>
<p>I may have said Yes to the 3-4 16 year old girls. But no boys.</p>
<p>…well at least it’s too late in the year for skeeters.</p>
<p>Will they allow kids under 18 to rent without a parent at least signing them in and taking responsibility? Thinking that might be a liability issue for them. Or is one of the other parents planning to do this? Your state doesn’t have GDL for young drivers? (Limits on number of unrelated passengers in car and hours of day of operation?) Maybe you have a legal out without being the ‘bad guy.’ Truthfully, Halloween in a campground with no special group activities planned is gonna be pretty scary. They might pack up and come home halfway through the night on their own.</p>
<p>Speaking as someone who used to be a 16-year-old boy, I really don’t know what the hell your husband was thinking here.</p>
<p>Shoboe I tend to be overprotective- my kid did a county clean up in the spring at a park with a group of friends through a non profit reputable organization. . She walked on a path with four other friends in her group, with groups ahead of them and behind them also cleaning up. All of a sudden I got nervous because I did not know who the other kids were in the other groups, and then I thought about BEARS ( we have them where I live, although not very often). I called the girl in charge who was a grad student ( gave me her number) and asked about bears, and she said " hold on and I will ask." Really ?? You did not check that out first? Anyway she came back and told me not to worry about bears… But at that point I was worried about the strangers who were with them in the woods. So… There is no way I would let my kid go camping.</p>
<p>First of all, this sounds like the perfect setting for a horror movie. Or an episode of Without a Trace. That’s enough to make me shiver. But even if I don’t let my tv-infused imagination run wild, the notion that it’s ok for teenage boys and girls to be left alone in an unsecured place, without adult supervision, leaves me shaking my head. There’s just too much that can go wrong. I’m not overprotective and I’d say no.</p>
<p>Thanks Maxwell! I’ll pass that along. Of course she’ll want to know how/where I heard and since I have never mentioned my cc addiction to her, I’ll have a hard time explaining it. :)</p>
<p>shoboemom- I would say no, but can you offer to host the girls for a sleepover instead? Have a bonfire, make smores etc</p>
<p>The first thing that goes wrong is it gets through the grapevine that some girls are out camping with no adult supervision on Halloween weekend. Then the next thing you know, 50 uninvited kids show up, some with alcohol or drugs ,and it gets out of control, girls don’t know how to make kids leave. Maybe fights, or someone leaving the impromptu ‘party’ gets in a car accident, or falls in some water and drowns, police called for noise, or who knows. Who is liable for allowing it in the first place? Parents. Very-bad-idea.</p>
<p>Celeste you are 100% right.</p>
<p>celeste nailed it. Not just on the question of who would be liable, but on how these things get spread around and pretty soon those 3 or 4 girls aren’t the only ones there. Either a party shows up, or someone thinks it would be hilarious to show up and scare them. I would say no. Well, I would probably make some suggestions before a flat out no. We would probably decide to rent the cabin immediately next to theirs (assuming they’re right next to each other)so that they weren’t really out there all alone. But sending them out there truly alone? Nope.</p>
<p>Yep, Yep, yep…thank you for validating my thoughts. lol I wasn’t going to change my mind even if you all thought I was being too strict, but it is nice to see that the majority is in agreement!
Yes, I have offered up the house and decorations, snacks, etc… and we can try to figure out a way to have a little fire or something…we have a small lot with lots of trees…but we can think of something. She says maybe she will just have some over for a movie. We’ll see!</p>
<p>I am glad to hear it shoboemom! I was a little nerve-wracked just thinking about that situation!</p>
<p>Maxwell, my D13 went to Kunming for summer 2012 with NSLIY and thought her host family was the best part. They are very carefully screened. I don’t think any of the American kids have issues during the summer. S15 said there were some issues with host families with the year program but that was due to issues with the American kids as well as issues with Chinese kids who had never had to share space or attention with a sibling. NSLIY is great! I highly recommend it!</p>
<p>I am going to contradict “common wisdom” and say that I don’t see any problem with a group of 16yos going camping by themselves. But not on a school night…</p>
<p>Also, I don’t see an all-girl group being a problem. I also think it’d be fine for a trusted boy to go along. IMO, it’s a bigger issue if none of them have ever camped before. I guess they’d be in a cabin, not tenting, so don’t have to deal with tent setup. But maybe they should practice starting a fire or using the camp stove, etc, in the backyard first. I’d also want to hear a well-thought-out plan for transportation to/from the campsite.</p>
<p>3girls3cats, LOL, it does sound like the perfect setup for a horror movie. I agree that I would be very uncomfortable with the situation and imagining all the things that could go wrong. </p>
<p>As for NSLI-Y I thought it sounded cool (even though D is not into languages; she’s taking Latin in school and not really enjoying it) but when H heard about it he said a big NO. He felt too uncomforable with letting D go to CHina/Russia/Morocco or wherever halfway round the world, having heard horror stories about kids and host families.</p>