Son 10, went back to a new (Adventist) school in August and has made one boy friend from his class. He's never been away from home - not even a sleep over at a friends etc. The school is planning a 3 day camping trip on the eastern side of Leyte 40km away to their Academy school. I think if it was just up the road I'd be ok with it but with the natural disasters, flooding, landslides, hygiene, discipline and generally somewhat sloppy attitudes that they have to safety here I am not too keen on it. Am I being over protective?
Ummmm,I don’t think you are,as you said sloppy safety attitudes,but when my kid was 14 I was toying with the idea of taking him camping in the Hindu Kush mountains,but I would have been with him to negate risks,can you not go and stay in a hotel nearby just so your local to him just in case?
There’s been quite a few children met accidents on school trips,the boy who was killed by a polar bear when camping with the school,not being an alarmist but maybe it’s better you stay near him,even a mile or two away in a hotel will make him feel secure.People mightn’t agree with being so protective but no one cares more about a small child than a parent themselves.
Hoots Mon! Whae ur ye trying tae kid, thurs nae Fecking Polar bears in the Philippines, help ma Boab some mithers do have them?
Difficult call “cut him loose and let him grow” or stifle and stop, the world can be a cruel place but men and women are made stronger by growth.
That was in Norway Dave,but the Philippines isn’t exactly safe,I know we can’t wrap kids up in cotton wool but parental protection in most cases is far better than teachers care,my sons cousin in the PI teaches on the strength of a degree she bought in Recto University,the same place Victorino chia “Studied” nursing.
I could not agree with you more, Filipino Mums do wrap their children up in cotton wool, even more so if they are male, but a white skinned male Golden Child is just supreme in the Mums eyes, I have noticed so many children in PH with a Foreign father that are not so well adjusted and ill prepared for adult life, often they are just spoiled brats. My own son there who is now 5yrs is reasonably well behaved, but that might not have been the case if I had not been there in these 5yrs, his Mum and I had many disagreements on child guidance, however now that she sees how he is developing she now understands, it is a regular occurrence for her to get praise for our well mannered and well behaved son. When he was 14 months old he started walking that lasted about 5mins and he has run from that day forth, everyone tried to be protective of him and tried to stop him from running and always saying slowly slowly to him, of course that did not work a bit like Forest Gump he just kept on running, I guess he had many spills with this at the time but I think children at that age have an inbuilt resilience to this and also they have not far to fall, (I have to laugh when I see little Pinay women carrying children of 4 and 5yrs of age which are almost as tall as themselves) around about this same time he found his feet he discovered he could sit in his high chair and feed himself, now that was a big No No to his Mum with her saying look at the mess he makes, I just laughed and said SO!!! this is easily cleaned up from a tiled floor what is the problem? about two months after she visits her Very Rich cousin who is married to a Lawyer she has 3 children aged 3 to 6years each child has their own personal YaYa and even the 6yr old was getting spoon fed, I would say there is 3 children that will be ill prepared for adult life, fortunately for them they can sponge off their father for as long as he is alive and stealing money just like any other Lawyer.
My sons mum sadly passed away when he was six,I never spoilt him,he did parachute jumps,dove with sharks,all sorts of things,his manners are impeccable and he has an excellent degree,lives here in the states now.One of his mates in Davao from a very young age had super rich parents,spoilt him rotten,anything he wants,first they wanted him to be an actor so they sent him to Manila-Fail then he went to uni to study as a pharmacist-fail,now he spends his life in his bedroom gaming on his PC and partying at night,it’s a little like Indian male children,super spoilt from well to do families often equals zero manners.
Let’s be very clear, I,in the post you responded to avoided race and creed, in fact I generalised about upbringing freedom or closet! I also think you are incorrect to malign the lawyers profession as you do in your last sentence, yes there are bad ones but there are many many good lawyers that are as honest as the day is long. The decision for @John Surrey is a 2 horse race and both horses have hurdles to jump!
There must be more Jokes about Politicians, Judges and Lawyers than any other profession on in the world and I'm pretty dam sure there is good reason for this? I am just a simple working class man from a working class background that has worked and paid my taxes for 47yrs of my life, this has earned me the right of passage to misalign the above professional people who are highly likely not to have paid their Taxes Pro Rata to their earnings. So perhaps you do know that one Lawyer who is honest, maybe you can tell us who he is and where he lives? then we could all be knocking at his door in our time of need. As it happens this particular rich lawyer (is there any other kind) that I speak of is handling a case for my partner at this very moment, he has guaranteed that it will have a favourable outcome for her, he lives and works in Cebu City, but 100% his cases are heard and won by him in a court at the other side of the Island, the Judge over there is in the lawyers pocket, hard to believe there is such corrupt goings on in the Philippines within their legal system? You have really offended me, to even remotely suggest that I am racially prejudiced? this cannot be further from the truth, being Scottish, creed, colour or culture has no real distinction for us as we treat everyone the same, in fact I would say Scottish people are the least racially prejudiced people on this earth, understand this; we dislike everyone, even our own Scottish neighbours, however we do like a dram or two and we are very understanding towards any English Bar Stewards. Hoots Mon! Ye need tae lichten up a wee bit and smile noo and again. Oan yonder hill thur wus a Coo, its nae gid ye looking as its naw there noo.
I have to sign waivers every other day for my son because he's playing volleyball competitively for the school, they are effectively medical exemptions, not quite as scary as the one you are being asked to sign but effectively the same. Essentially they are saying that Adventurer / Pathfinder camping carries significant risk and you need to indemnify them for anything that might happen, essentially covering their backsides. You have to sign it if you want your son to participate, my son injured himself in a volleyball game last summer holidays up at his uncle's place, he fell backwards and smashed his head on the ground during a game and given he's 6' 5" tall he got knocked out and had memory problems until the next day this was before he started playing for the school so I know the sport is potentially dangerous. Since then his team won the first tournnement he officially participated in for the school, he's good at it and for me his determination to train and improve is character building, there was a point when he nearly pulled out because the training was so tiring but he's stuck at it. You have to weigh up what your son will get out of it against the potential dangers, a camping trip in the Phils well yes it has its dangers but it also has a lot of positive benefits as well. You could get hit with a huge medical bill but do you really want to be haggling at a distance while your son might be seriously injured, it's not an easy choice.
Hi John, My 10 y.o. son went on one of these outdoor adventure trips in the UK last year and he thoroughly enjoyed it. He slept in a dorm with the other boys for a few nights He grew in confidence and I recommend that your son goes too. I had every confidence in the teachers and the staff at the place. I would not worry about the words in the red box. Sit back and enjoy the days and nights he is away as he will "grow" a lot with his personal development. Life is a blast and we have to let them experience it too
The teachers are professional they will make wise choices Is the trip insured I am sure most school trips if not all should be You have to let him loose to grow. He will enjoy himself and that is important in his development into adolescence
Apart from the other benefits of being away, your son will make friends too, John (Surrey), and friends are very important
Correct most School trips should be insured. But this isn't gonna happen in PH, here and now I would bet you a £100 that it is not, Teachers and their administration there are so unbelievably dumb especially at elementary level and far from having the intelligence expected of a professional person, 5 times I have asked one of them where the English Language comes from and in 4 of the 5 they said US, but one did say Russia. Having lived in PH full time for 8yrs also building a house there, I can honestly say; The currency of the Philippines is Stupidity, wise choices are a pie in the sky idea for most there, I'm guessing your overview of the Philippines is somewhat coloured by perhaps only having short term enjoyable holiday visits there and far from the reality of the true situation? Many Foreigners that have lived there for the longer term will tell you much the same as I have said above. I had 8 great years when I lived there, I will return but only for short term Holiday visits, in my time there I had heard so many Horror stories of inadequate healthcare there and even having one of my own, this is especially where Foreigners are concerned, a bit like a Menu in a Chinese Take away based on pricing, Amputations come at a premium high rate, perhaps a better choice for them to get instant cash rather than finding some less expensive remedial care for a person to keep their leg, recently a German friend of mine was told he needed an surgical operation to his chest ASAP and was told not to travel, he did not take their advice, returning to his home country to be told this was not even required.
I personally know a lady who has been teaching for a number of years on the strength of a fake degree she bought in recto university.
This surprises me not, I would think there have been many degrees bought from various institutions and I suspect they are also available in the medical sciences? then there is driving licenses they are easily obtained for just a small payment under the table P3K I hear? maybe with inflation that has gone up to 5K now? As I said I lived there for a number of years but soon learned the place is rife with corruption, however in many ways I would much rather live there than here in UK, but for sure it is not the Paradise that many consider it to be, this you only learn from being there for a longer term, now I want to get my family there over to UK to ensure my 5yr old son gets an acceptable main stream education, which is just not available there even in the private sector.
