I recently went on a 5 night school trip that unfortunately had problems with both student and chaperone behavior. Ignoring the student issues for the moment, I'm trying to think how the school can avoid chaperone issues in the future. My first thought was that they didn't set up very clear expectations about chaperoning beforehand.
Does anyone's school actually provide informational sheets/guidelines specifically aimed at the chaperones? We had a quick 10 minute meeting after the mandatory parent/student meeting where we could ask a few questions but that was it. I think if people went in with more appropriate expectations it would help. The staff has asked me to provide an idea of things that would have been helpful from the chaperone standpoint and I'm just looking for any feedback or ideas that other schools might provide. Thx
I do want to say - we had 16 chaperones and 12 were amazing but not always on the same page, but they worked their tales off and I just don't want to seem like I'm disparaging them - even though they'd never read this.
When I did chaperoning for the girls band/color guard trips, we always had meetings with the parents and students about expected behaviors, at the beginning of the year, and again before events. The band parents groups (I was VP for 3 years) worked with the teacher/school to make a code of conduct, and if they didn't sign, they didn't go. If parents broke the rules, they weren't allowed back as chaperones; if students, they weren't allowed to go on trips without a parent. Only had 1 student in 3 years that had to have a parent chaperone especially for them, and only banned 2 parents from chaperoning....
We were allowed X number of chaperone spots. If you signed up and didn't show, you weren't allowed to sign up again (unless you had a good reason, like being at the hospital or having to work; didn't wake up or just didn't feel like wasn't going to fly). We had to have Y number of chaperones, so what we would do is have 2 or 3 back up chaperones; if they were needed, they chaperoned.
Drinking was not allowed at all on the trips; didn't matter if you were an adult. No drugs (duh). Medical forms, for chaperones and students, were turned in at the beginning of the year, and needed to be maintained. No medical form, no trip. Also, volunteer forms/background checks (required from the school district) must be current. Medications had to be checked in with teacher and the head chaperone for that trip (usually one or two parents with medical backgrounds); students/parents could keep their meds, but the med chaperone/teachers had to be aware.
Uniforms had to be clean and pressed. When not in uniform, clothing for students had to meet school rules (so no booty shorts, for example.) and preferred band tshirt.
Chaperones needed to be dressed appropriately (so again, no booty shorts). At events, chaperones had to be in their band shirts and wear a volunteer badge. Chaperones needed to be available to their students and teachers at all time, either in person or via cell phone or hotel phone.
Students and chaperones had to attend all events. Students were responsible for their music and equipment, as well as their personal items. We gently discouraged bringing any electronics other than a cell phone; cell phones were taken from students before events and returned after (no distractions). Personal items (jackets, bags, etc) were left on the bus or in the equipment trailer during events. I always had a big bag that the students could leave their items in, if needed (especially female students).
Chaperones got into events free with the band. If a parent wasn't signed in as a chaperone for that event, they had to pay to enter.
Chaperones had # of students to cover; they needed to know where their students were at all times. If students weren't with their chaperone, they needed to be in at least pairs, and at least one of the pairs needed to have a cell phone and answer any texts/calls from the chaperone/teacher. Teachers had to be available at all times to their students/chaperones.
Unless there was an official meal set, students could eat what they wanted, where they wanted, depending on what was available in the area. We didn't monitor their food choices, but we did provide water (we got them each refillable water bottles with the school logo, and we used those big orange 5 gallon water coolers with ice) and pushed them drinking it during events.
Overnight trips: Curfew was 10pm for students, 11pm for parents. No running around the hotels, be courteous of other people, etc. Curfew meant in their own rooms, not their buddy's. We booked 2 chaperones per room, same sex only unless a couple was chaperoning. Students could be up to 4 in a room, same sex only, depending on # of beds. Students could choose their roommates, but if there were issues, the band teacher could assign spots. Chaperones and teachers had to have lists of who was in what room. Bed checks were performed by chaperones at 10pm.
it seems like a bunch of hard nose rules for a volunteer position, but with ANY group, you have to clear expectations or there is chaos. We had similar rules for other group events, like Scouting (boys and girls) and sports; some were a bit more relaxed, others more tight laced, but they all included specific requirements and expectations.