Would you let your 8 year old DD attend?

[java]

Based on the reactions you are getting here I am assuming the girls of the mom's that can go are all in and half of the rest are not happy. I probably wouldn't let my daughter go for an overnight in Boston at 8(she is 10 now)

But I will say I took 5 of her friends to the Great Wolf Lodge for the night and I was really surprised that all 5 that we invited could go. I thought someone would have a problem as it was about an hour away- and a swimming place but nope. They all got to go and everyone was fine. The girls had a blast. (this was when she turned 9 so about the same age)

I think it is just the uncertainty of the event that would make me uncomfortable- are you the ONLY group going? will there be other people sleeping over- and it's not like you are in a hotel you are in a room with a bunch of strangers no? That would make it a no go for my 8 year old daughter.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

I just emailed DD at college to find out how old she was when she did an overnight with the GS at a Boston museum. I know she had a good time and I wasn't worried about her. We're about 60 miles from Boston...1 to 2 hours, depending on time of day and traffic.

I wouldn't be away from the rest of my family on Mother's Day weekend tho, so I wouldn't do a Mom & Me that weekend with just one kid. I have done Mom & Me weekends at other times of the year, at Camp Hoffman tho...that was fun.

 

[Caropooh]

Well, both DD's(13 and 8) have been going to summer GS camp since the summer after 1st grade. It's for a week and is either 1 hour or 2 hours away depending on which one they go too. We've never had any problems with it. I would have no problem them going on an ovenight 2.5 hours away that is chaperoned! They have both been on church retreats witout us either!

 

[Talking Hands]

Absolutely would have let my daughter attend. Sent her to Boston from Miami at age 8 with her viola teacher, chaperones and 40 other kids for 3 days. In 2nd grade she went to Bradenton which is 6 hours away for the weekend with the same teacher for a concert with another Suzuki group.
If parents have trust in you it should not be a problem.
BTW she also went on GS trips in 2nd grade but I was with her since I was the leader.

 

[sha_lyn]

If this is a local council issue-I think it's poor policy. I'd sure want to know whether it's the person bias of a couple of council folks, or whether the museum prefers to have as few adults as possible. Something here doesn't add up to me.

It isa GSUSA policy. No adults may attend over nights unless they have had back-ground checks and are registered adults with GS.
The only exception being mother-daughter over nights, for which each attending girl must have a mother/female relative attending, or they can not attend.
Would you really want your child spending the night with a bunch of strange adutls that had not been checked out?

 

[mickeyboat]

Is it possible some of the reluctance comes from the parents not knowing you (the leader) very well?

Last year was my DD's first year in GS. They planned an overnight Sleep with the Sharks at the aquarium in TN, 2 hrs away. I felt she was too young to send off with these people I didn't know from Adam. In our case, I volunteered to drive & went along as a chaperone.

Now that I know the leaders personally I'd have no problem sending her on her own.

It is possible - we do have some new girls in our troop this year. But we have been together since Daisy's - so this is our third year.

 

[sha_lyn]

Have you checked Safety Wise. I left my copy at the hut or I would look it up.
It sounds like the trip mgiht be too far away for the age/level of your troop.
I believe the limit for Brownies is 100 miles

 

[mickeyboat]

I think it is just the uncertainty of the event that would make me uncomfortable- are you the ONLY group going? will there be other people sleeping over- and it's not like you are in a hotel you are in a room with a bunch of strangers no? That would make it a no go for my 8 year old daughter.

There will be 85-150 attendees - plus council members and whoever else is running the program. The trip is a camp-in at the museum. We would not be traipsing all over Boston - just to the museum when we got there, and back from the museum when it was time to leave. We could even pack lunches to eat in the car on the way home, so we would only have to stop for bathroom breaks if needed.

 

[MoniqueU]

Yes I definetly would. It sounds like a great oppurtunity to me.

 

[mickeyboat]

Have you checked Safety Wise. I left my copy at the hut or I would look it up.
It sounds like the trip mgiht be too far away for the age/level of your troop.
I believe the limit for Brownies is 100 miles

I will have the leader check that out. I am not sure she considered that.

Denae

 

[Minnie_me]

It isa GSUSA policy. No adults may attend over nights unless they have had back-ground checks and are registered adults with GS.
The only exception being mother-daughter over nights, for which each attending girl must have a mother/female relative attending, or they can not attend.
Would you really want your child spending the night with a bunch of strange adutls that had not been checked out?

Wow - I didn't know that, and I know for SURE that this policy wasn't followed in the recent Girl Scout sleepover at the MIddle School. One of the mothers that spent the night is a known small-time "criminal" in the community (check bouncing, food stamp/welfare/unemployment fraud, etc.).

I'm going to do some checking on this one!!!

 

[sha_lyn]

I was hoping that Safety-Wise was available online so I checked the GS-USA site. Couldn't find anything.
I wish I could remember what the age/distance cut offs are for certain.
100 miles might be Daisy level, but I'm thinking is for Brownies and the Daisy limit is smaller.

 

[mickeyboat]

I was hoping that Safety-Wise was available online so I checked the GS-USA site. Couldn't find anything.
I wish I could remember what the age/distance cut offs are for certain.
100 miles might be Daisy level, but I'm thinking is for Brownies and the Daisy limit is smaller.

I tried to google it, too and could not find it. Boston is 128 miles from here.

 

[sha_lyn]

Wow - I didn't know that, and I know for SURE that this policy wasn't followed in the recent Girl Scout sleepover at the MIddle School. One of the mothers that spent the night is a known small-time "criminal" in the community (check bouncing, food stamp/welfare/unemployment fraud, etc.).

Was it a troop, SU or council event?
If it was a troop event, she could just be a registered adult Grilscout, but not a registered adult volunteer. I am almost 100% certain that she would have to be a registered volunteer (requires background and driving record check) to chaperon a SU or council event.
Darn I wish I didn't put my copy of safety-wise on the book shelf where we meet. I want to look this stuff up.

 

[englishteacha]

I LOOOOOVED that trip. I think I was 9 or 10. We were about 2 hours away and my parents were thrilled to let me go...I think. I'll have to ask Mom. I'm not a mom, so I can't answer as a parent, but I wish our school's 6th graders (most are 11) could do a MoS overnight. They do a day trip to Boston, and we're 5 hours away. It's a crazy long day. It was an amazing experience for me. I got to sleep at the foot of the T-Rex. (This was in 1989 or 1990)

 

[aprincessmom]

I would let DD attend.

On a side note, DD's school does this trip every year. She went last year and it was a BLAST! It is so much fun and it's the big thing that is talked about by all the kids...they can't wait for 5th grade to go. All the parents jockey for chaperone status not because we are nervous for them...we all want to sleep under the dinosaur!!!!!

DD and her friends slept in the math area. They had a great time, especially after the museum was closed. There were special exhibits and things to do. And they all got patches that let them into the museum for free for the rest of the school year.

 

[StrollPatrolMom]

I made this same trip as a little girl. I could not have been more than 8. We're about an hour from Boston.

I had an awesome time, but for the fact we slept in the wave room and they never shut the waves off.

I would absolutely allow my DD to go. What a great experience!

 

[mylilnikita]

Last year, my DD9 GS Leader resigned due to medical problems, but before the troop disbanded, they went to N.Carolina for the weekend. They had a great time! I did miss her, but it was a great opportunity, they went to the Aquarium and a couple other places.

 

[taylor1293]

I have a second grader and there is no way I'd let her attend unless I attended too.

 

[lilyv]

It is GSUSA policy. No adults may attend over nights unless they have had back-ground checks and are registered adults with GS.
The only exception being mother-daughter over nights, for which each attending girl must have a mother/female relative attending, or they can not attend.
Would you really want your child spending the night with a bunch of strange adults that had not been checked out?

While the background checks are nice, they are absolutely no guarantee of no problems. It's only as good as the info a person chooses to give, and it's only a snapshot on one given day.

The easy example of volunteer mismanagement is each year once cookie money is due there are stories in our local media of problems...and the dollar amounts in question are amazing for your average troop. The cookie chairmen are vetted, yet still problems happen. No guarantees that any one person will be honest, and trustworthy.

Of course, most volunteers are good, and they are trying to do the right thing.

But, if a parent of a young child prefers to be there for their child on an overnight, I totally understand.