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Our Rites of Passage
Education/Nancy Salvato |
July 29, 2005
- Both of my sons are experiencing a rite of passage
right now, attending JAMBO as members of the Boy Scouts. It is one of a few
trips that I imagine will leave them fondly reminiscing long after they have
reached adulthood. They had been anticipating this adventure for many
months. I believe that this trip will have the effect of framing the way
they see their world from now on in a very different light because they are
being immersed in the traditions and values and the extended family that
make up their scouting community.
Not every teenager will have the opportunity to participate in this
particular event but most will have their own away from home encounters that
serve to shape their personalities and will be remembered for years to come.
My husband remembers band camp and one of my best friends remembers her
semester in Rome but there is another excursion that teenagers eagerly join
if their families can find the financing –an 8th grade field trip to
Washington DC.
As you can imagine, I was quite dismayed to find this particular foray
reduced -in even one instance- to a "perfunctory sightseeing tour." Although
parents are given assurances that their children will benefit from the
academic nature of this visit to our nation's capital, most of the teachers
who are involved in the planning of these trips are dealing with companies
who have figured out less than above board ways to attract recurring clients
–and these ways have nothing to do with scholarship or teaching objectives.
Because of the status quo nature of arranging these tour groups, a company
that wants to do right by these kids finds it difficult to attract educators
who stand to benefit from the other companies' underhanded ways of
soliciting their business. Educational Discovery Tours is willing to offer
30% more educational programs and activities as well as upgraded hotels and
meals to attract school groups but this is not enough. Their experience is
that teachers have come to expect "personal requirements" which can bring
the price up per student anywhere from $150.00- $500.00 each.
The larger educational tour operators habitually offer stipends to teachers
who enter into multiple year contracts, finders fees for bring more
business, personal 'travel benefits', gifts, and other perks. Smaller
companies are starting to offer these same types of arrangements in order to
be able to compete. Many companies advertise these types of benefits to
teachers; many of whom are led to believe these transactions are perfectly
legal.
Educational Discovery Tours refuses to play that game. They are taking a
stand because they sympathize with the parents who must take out loans or
take on second jobs in order to afford the cost of their children
participating in this particular rite of passage. Although many teachers and
administrators have come to expect these perks, this company is unwilling to
back down even though it is losing potential business.
A viable solution would be that the booking of these trips should be taken
on by members of the school board; parent representatives who can ensure
that the DC trip is educationally sound and won't bring undo economic
hardship to participating families. Any field trip that is an extension of
the school day should provide children with experiences and opportunities
that will help them to grow and become civically responsible adults, and in
light of Natalie Holloway, trip planners should demand of any provider
assurances of maximum security for these kids.
Teachers and administrators who choose to line their pockets for their own
personal gain instead of making their priority the education of those they
serve can be equated with a criminal element in society who don't hold their
own behaviors to the same standards expected under the law. They justify
their crimes because they haven't held a gun to anyone's head and mostly
follow the rules. But this is the worst kind of model for the students who
learn from them that there is no standard for behavior and that everyone is
out for number 1.
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