Little 'Rakers Walked Home From School Today

[Moonrakers]

She's just turned 7, and she walked back home alone basically half the length of Sukh 71.

Of course, Mrs. 'Rakers or I usually pick her up but today I was doing some work only for my little girl to walk in the door. The reason?

The school closed early today and nobody thought to let us know. No letters, nothing verbally, nada. Mrs. Rakers did in fact here something from another mother that lives close to us. Our kids have different teachers at the same school so clearly their teacher let her know, but my girl's teacher didn't tell us.

Mrs. 'Rakers even checked with another teacher at the gates when she took our girl to school this morning. That teacher, whom was clearly clueless, told my misses that school finishes at the normal time. So school finished leaving our little girl waiting to be picked up, only for nobody to come.

One is not amused, other kids must have been left waiting or going home alone also. The idiots

[Forethat]

Scary stuff. I hope she's OK.

[Moonrakers]

Scary stuff. I hope she's OK.

Yes, she is just fine thankfully. Quite proud of her little expedition in fact. Of course she has since been told she should wait but there's no way she's at fault.

[nocturn]

this is exactly why i got my 8 year old a fino. i feel better knowing she can ride.

[mario299]

Scary stuff. I hope she's OK.

Yes, she is just fine thankfully. Quite proud of her little expedition in fact. Of course she has since been told she should wait but there's no way she's at fault.

Glad your daughter is okay. This happens quite a lot to us with the village school, but fortunately our daughter rides a school bus (truck) every day and THEY always know. Every now and then she comes home from school with the news that there is no school for x amount of days...never any advance notice from school.

Gets a little frustrating, but no idea how to change it...we just accept it.

Now besides getting her a Fino, consider a telephone as well. All 7 year olds need both.

[dean999]

this is exactly why i got my 8 year old a fino. i feel better knowing she can ride.

Here's a safer option. Least she can't fall off. Pedo's beware.

[afarang]

Sorry ,but this is par for the course. I have had my children ,go to school ,come home ,_ No school today.Why? Nobody knows. No communication from the teachers Just school is closed today.,Same ,school closes early - no warning or message given to parents. Kids come home- What are you doing here? Teachers told us to go home.

[Farang0tang]

Have always found this strange.

Defeats me why on earth they can not produce a school calendar, and more importantly stick to it!

[nocturn]

this is exactly why i got my 8 year old a fino. i feel better knowing she can ride.

Here's a safer option. Least she can't fall off. Pedo's beware.

she's got one of those in her saddlebags

[StreetCowboy]

this is exactly why i got my 8 year old a fino. i feel better knowing she can ride.

Here's a safer option. Least she can't fall off. Pedo's beware.

? People who love feet?

SC

Entertainingly enough, I think you will find that more American children get killed by accidents with guns in the home than by strangers. For all I care, that could be true, but it is an interesting point to bear in mind.

Edited September 27, 2011 by StreetCowboy

[Richard4849]

Kids need cell phones for this reason.

[Ijustwannateach]

Have always found this strange.

Defeats me why on earth they can not produce a school calendar, and more importantly stick to it!

Believe me, we teachers wonder the same thing.

One difference I had to get used to, teaching here, is that the individual school directors have so much power- it's not like Britain or Japan where a central agency controls so much of the curriculum and the scheduling and also is constantly checking and crosschecking for compliance. If a school director wants to cancel classes for pretty much any reason- he can. The more professional schools do make a pretty good show of predicting the longer holidays and meetings in advance on a calendar, and may mostly stick to them, but that never seems to mean that more classes can't be cancelled for any reason at any time, including the last minute.

Most of the students I've taught are old enough to be more responsible, but I can see in the case of younger kids such as this there are disastrous possibilities! Very irresponsible of the school to handle things that way- but may not necessarily be the individual teacher's fault (teachers are not always informed en masse of administrative decisions in advance, so your fellow parent's child's teacher may be closer to the centre of power).

[Moonrakers]

We've already arranged and paid for a new (better) school before this anyway, we weren't happy with a few things.

Giving tea and coffee to the kids, for example. We only found out after investigation through wondering why little 'Rakers was still wide awake at 1AM some nights.

[StreetCowboy]

We've already arranged and paid for a new (better) school before this anyway, we weren't happy with a few things.

Giving tea and coffee to the kids, for example. We only found out after investigation through wondering why little 'Rakers was still wide awake at 1AM some nights.

For one reason or another my daughter had to get a taxi from the station to school by herself in HK at the age of eight, and I was as happy about that as her walking a half-mile home from school now in Thailand aged 11. Maybe I exaggerate. But certainly, one of the things that I miss is the ability of my children to go out on their own. Though having said that, when I was young I never lived in London, and perhaps our constant moving from country to country has limited their confidence / capability in any one country.

That is one of the reasons that I am considering relocating back to the UK as a base for family operations...

SC

[paulian]

I notice one post said to just accept it. I don't have any small children in the country. However, if I did, I certainly would not accept it. Something should at least be mentioned to the school authorities. For some reason in this country, it appears officials don't recognize the most basic logic in life. I think many times it is not that they do not care but just do not realize the ramifications of their actions. Getting a few parents together and making a trip to the principles office can do nothing but help in a situation like this. This is not a country to let children roam around unsupervised even for a few blocks. .

[paulian]

Kids need cell phones for this reason.

Absolutely, all children should be equipped with them and taught how to use them. Speed dial is so easy to set up for a 6-7 year old. and .... cells are so cheap for a base model no reason for a kid not to have one.

[Kilgore Trout]

Thats what you get for sending your kid to a sub-par (probably) Thai school.

The Int. schools have web portals, weekly newsletters, and 7 year olds are certainly not allowed to leave the school grounds with out their parents or approved guardian (who must present a valid ID at the gate). If a child was not picked up, the school should have kept her in the office until a parent was contacted.

Send your kid to a proper school or stop complaining.

Edited September 28, 2011 by Kilgore Trout

[dave111223]

When I was 10 school closed early one day and I walked home 6 miles down a dual carriageway in the UK, parents were pretty freaked out...but these kind of things happen the world over, not just in Thailand.

[Bagwan]

When I was 10 school closed early one day and I walked home 6 miles down a dual carriageway in the UK, parents were pretty freaked out...but these kind of things happen the world over, not just in Thailand.

From the age of 11 years I rode a bicycle to school along the main London-Brighton road, 4 miles there, and believe it or not, the same distance back. When about 13 years old 'our gang' decided to go down the road to Brighton - only about 55 miles away. The only preparation for the trip that I made was to nip indoors, tell my Mother what me and the lads were going to do, tucked my new long trousers into my socks and off we went. We were a tougher breed in those far off days.

[robbiecia]

Thats what you get for sending your kid to a sub-par (probably) Thai school.

The Int. schools have web portals, weekly newsletters, and 7 year olds are certainly not allowed to leave the school grounds with out their parents or approved guardian (who must present a valid ID at the gate). If a child was not picked up, the school should have kept her in the office until a parent was contacted.

Send your kid to a proper school or stop complaining.

WOW!!!!!!!

What a condescending reply to something that could happen anywhere. Mr Trout, you should be ashamed of yourself.

On a much lighter note.........interesting story Mr Moonrakers..........they don't come with an instruction manual do they!!!!!!

[Bkkorupcountry]

Thats what you get for sending your kid to a sub-par (probably) Thai school.

The Int. schools have web portals, weekly newsletters, and 7 year olds are certainly not allowed to leave the school grounds with out their parents or approved guardian (who must present a valid ID at the gate). If a child was not picked up, the school should have kept her in the office until a parent was contacted.

Send your kid to a proper school or stop complaining.

What about if the parents can't afford to send their kids to a proper (probably) Farang school? Can they continue to complain?

[billd766]

Thats what you get for sending your kid to a sub-par (probably) Thai school.

The Int. schools have web portals, weekly newsletters, and 7 year olds are certainly not allowed to leave the school grounds with out their parents or approved guardian (who must present a valid ID at the gate). If a child was not picked up, the school should have kept her in the office until a parent was contacted.

Send your kid to a proper school or stop complaining.

What about if the parents can't afford to send their kids to a proper (probably) Farang school? Can they continue to complain?

Should I uproot my family and move 400 km to Bangkok or Chiang Mai where there is a farang school?

[Richard4849]

Thats what you get for sending your kid to a sub-par (probably) Thai school.

The Int. schools have web portals, weekly newsletters, and 7 year olds are certainly not allowed to leave the school grounds with out their parents or approved guardian (who must present a valid ID at the gate). If a child was not picked up, the school should have kept her in the office until a parent was contacted.

Send your kid to a proper school or stop complaining.

What about if the parents can't afford to send their kids to a proper (probably) Farang school? Can they continue to complain?

Should I uproot my family and move 400 km to Bangkok or Chiang Mai where there is a farang school?

Depends on how important your kid's education is to you, I guess.

[mario299]

I notice one post said to just accept it. I don't have any small children in the country. However, if I did, I certainly would not accept it. Something should at least be mentioned to the school authorities. For some reason in this country, it appears officials don't recognize the most basic logic in life. I think many times it is not that they do not care but just do not realize the ramifications of their actions. Getting a few parents together and making a trip to the principles office can do nothing but help in a situation like this. This is not a country to let children roam around unsupervised even for a few blocks. .

If you will re-read my post I didn't say everyone has to just accept it, but rather that we accept it because we cannot change it. Truly, this is the way it is in the villages of Thailand, and I welcome you and your group of a few parents to make your trip to the principal's office. Let me know how that works out, because if you think we just accept it without expressing our feelings to the "powers that be", you are not correct.

[Moonrakers]

Thats what you get for sending your kid to a sub-par (probably) Thai school.

The Int. schools have web portals, weekly newsletters, and 7 year olds are certainly not allowed to leave the school grounds with out their parents or approved guardian (who must present a valid ID at the gate). If a child was not picked up, the school should have kept her in the office until a parent was contacted.

Send your kid to a proper school or stop complaining.

There's always at least one that acts the tool

[F1fanatic]

Its terrifying isn't it... your poor daughter had to walk home alone.

Poor mite - I hope she gets over the horror of it soon.

[Kananga]

Thats what you get for sending your kid to a sub-par (probably) Thai school.

The Int. schools have web portals, weekly newsletters, and 7 year olds are certainly not allowed to leave the school grounds with out their parents or approved guardian (who must present a valid ID at the gate). If a child was not picked up, the school should have kept her in the office until a parent was contacted.

Send your kid to a proper school or stop complaining.

What about if the parents can't afford to send their kids to a proper (probably) Farang school? Can they continue to complain?

Should I uproot my family and move 400 km to Bangkok or Chiang Mai where there is a farang school?

Depends on how important your kid's education is to you, I guess.

+1 (Surprisingly)

[Moonrakers]

Its terrifying isn't it... your poor daughter had to walk home alone.

Poor mite - I hope she gets over the horror of it soon.

?

Is that sarcasm?

[Kananga]

Its terrifying isn't it... your poor daughter had to walk home alone.

Poor mite - I hope she gets over the horror of it soon.

?

Is that sarcasm?

I would imagine so. A poor attempt at that.

[TheLaughingMan]

Thats what you get for sending your kid to a sub-par (probably) Thai school.

The Int. schools have web portals, weekly newsletters, and 7 year olds are certainly not allowed to leave the school grounds with out their parents or approved guardian (who must present a valid ID at the gate). If a child was not picked up, the school should have kept her in the office until a parent was contacted.

Send your kid to a proper school or stop complaining.

What about if the parents can't afford to send their kids to a proper (probably) Farang school? Can they continue to complain?

Should I uproot my family and move 400 km to Bangkok or Chiang Mai where there is a farang school?

Yes for the sake of the child always YES. wow