How to ensure your children’s safety on excursions and class trips

On January 17, we woke up to the news of the disappearance and subsequent passing of 13-year-old Enoch Mpianzi.

Enoch was a Parktown Boys pupil that drowned in the Crocodile River in the North West after his makeshift boat overturned. The Citizen reported that his parents were unemployed refugees that were in no position to afford the trip itself and they borrowed R800 for him to attend the camp.

In a separate incident, Keamohetswe Shaun Seboko, a 13-year-old grade 7 boy, was found dead in the hostel swimming pool at Laerskool Bekker in Magaliesburg.

But as parents, what can we learn from these situations?

Here are some tips to help:

Ensure that all the requirements are met

If the school provides a list of items that are required for the trip, then ensure that all of these are available for the child. If not, then kids that don’t meet the requirements should not be allowed to attend. In Enoch’s case, he reportedly went onto the raft without a life jacket, which was a requirement. He should not have been allowed on the raft in the first place.

Ask the school for its safety protocol

For an out-of-province excursion that will see your child engaging in some risky activities, ask the school for its safety protocol. In order for the school to have a safety protocol, they need to calculate the risk first. If the organisers plan properly, then this protocol should be readily available from the school on request. So, ensure that the school has safety precautions in place that will ensure that your child will be taken care of in case of an emergency.

Ask the right questions if children will be expected to swim, hike, or make a fire

• Will there be a lifeguard on duty?
• Are children allowed to bring and use their phones in case of an emergency?
• Will a headcount be done after each activity?
• Who is the contact person on duty for each activity?
• Ask for an itemised itinerary

Take your child for swimming lessons

It does not have to be formal swimming lessons with someone that we have to pay. It could be a family member or a friend that knows how to swim. They can teach your child water safety, floating, and breath control.

Find out who to talk to at the school

Find out from the school who you can chat to in order to check in on your child for assurance as many parents are left reeling after the deaths of both these boys.

Karabo Motsiri is a first-time mom, over-sharer, lover of life, chronic napper and married to her best friend. She loves a good party because the dance floor is her happy place. She enjoys good food, good conversations, laughs a little too hard, and cries during every episode of Grey’s Anatomy. She started her blogging journey because she wanted to share all the ups and downs of being a young modern mama in South Africa. Her blog Black Mom Chronicles has been featured on Ayana Magazine & SA Mom Blog. She has enjoyed airtime on Power FM and frequently writes for the parenting section of Saturday Citizen. She also works with MamaMagic on their Product Awards, Milestones Magazine, Heart to Heart blog, and the Baby Expo, which is South Africa’s biggest parenting expo. 

If you found this article useful or interesting, why not subscribe to Parenty’s weekly newsletter for a wrap up of that week’s best content.