Rollercoaster Ride – What should you do when a child goes missing on a school visit?
When a child has decided he liked the theme park trip so much that he’d rather stay the night, says Paul Dix you need to choose – will you wait, go searching, or tell his parents to come find him?
- by Paul Dix
Other than the angry man in the queue, the ‘too many Haribos’ incident and Kyle’s missing front tooth, it’s been a good day at the theme park.
As adults and children alike trudge back to the bus, you look forward to the cheeky nap that sitting in the front seats affords a shattered teacher. The smiles of the children as they climb aboard make it all worthwhile. As you count them back onto the coach, you assume that tiredness made you miss one. Even when as you walk up the aisle to recount and get the same number, you hope that someone is just hiding under the seat. But when three adults arrive at the same conclusion, the colour drains from your face.
Someone is missing. One child casually remarks that ‘Jack said he was going to stay the night’ and in a heartbeat the atmosphere between the adults changes. Incredibly, some want to leave Jack to the mercy of the theme park; others volunteer to sacrifice themselves to the time-consuming search, while the rest would prefer to settle down and wait it out.
You have 40 children on board who won’t stay calm and quiet for long, and 40 parents who will be awaiting your return to school. You realise that you are going to have to decide what to do.
So, what will you do next…?
A) Nobody Move! Wait it out. Jack will realise that the park is closing and come out soon enough.
B) Park rangers Send out a search party – scour the grounds, every hidey hole.
C) Ah, forget it Leave him! Call Jack’s parents and tell them to come and find him.
A) Park the bus
After asking the park staff to make Tannoy announcements and having a good look at their CCTV, you settle down in the coach to wait it out. Closing time isn’t for another hour and you’re sure a little patience will pay off. The children are surprisingly well behaved. They spend time chatting and relaxing after a day of 100mph playing.
The other adults are less settled and question the wisdom of your decision-making; after half an hour you’re having to do all you can to stop some from heading out to look for Jack and others running to the train station to make their own way home. After an hour the park’s closing rituals begin. You panic and go to call the head, but your phone is already (silently) ringing, as terrified parents desperately want to speak to their son. One of the children has clearly texted home, and the parent grapevine soon got the word around. You then realise that you’ve missed calls from numerous parents, as well as the head. As you run towards the park you manage to stop the staff before the shutters go down. But you’re an hour-and-a-half late already, there’s no Jack, and you have bored children, annoyed teachers and angry parents on your hands.
Talking behaviour • Who should you call first and when? • Who is responsible for Jack’s wellbeing? • Is leaving Jack behind an option?
B) Leave no man behind
The fading light and dwindling patience of some adults means that you need to act quickly. A call to the head is a sensible first step. She doesn’t just share the worry, but gives you a clear perspective. Jack must be found and the search coordinated.
A bit of digging with some of the children reveals his last known sighting and direction of travel – running towards ‘Lagoon Land’ with a face full of candy floss. So you start there. You leave two teachers and a parent to look after the children, and with the finest (and fastest) adults and some volunteers from the park staff, you fan out from Lagoon Island. After a 60-minute Black Hawk Down-style search-and-rescue mission, Jack is found in the log flume with a small stash of sweets ‘To help him through the night’. As you head towards the exit with a suitably ashamed small boy, you realise that simply putting him back on the coach with his frustrated classmates might be like throwing him to the lions. You sit Jack next to you to spare him from any unkindness, as well as the lack of empathy from a few adults.
Jack had his own reasons for not wanting to go home. Reasons that others would be pleased they don’t have.
Talking behaviour • Could you have just left parents on the bus without school staff? • Do you need to tell anyone what happened? • What reason do you give the parents for arriving late back at school?
C) The last ride
The adults urging you to leave has swayed you into a decision of which you are utterly unsure. You wait 30 minutes in case he returns, then leave contact numbers with the park manager and call Jack’s parents on the way home. The conversation highlights glaring holes in your decision-making. You ask the coach driver to turn back. You’re now 20 miles from the theme park. The coach can’t turn off for another 10 miles and the traffic going the other way is heavy – an hour and a half heavy. All the while you’re talking to furious parents who are threatening to call the police, and managing frustrated adults who are speaking of mutiny while being besieged by 14 children who ‘Totally need a pee, Miss’. Just as you think your luck is running out, the manager from the Park calls. Jack has been found, but is inconsolable at being abandoned. It was a dare, a joke, “IT WAS BANTZ!” he screams at you through tears as you arrive in a small office to collect him. It’s already 7pm, and with a two-and-a-half-hour drive back you now have a coachload of very hungry children, a headteacher who is desperate to talk to you and an appointment with the Local Authority Designated Office to come next week.
Talking behaviour • What is your duty of care to a child who runs away or deliberately hides? • Can you send the children home with staff and stay on your own to find Jack? • Why does the LADO need to get involved?
Your style
A) Passive passenger Jack is not old enough to be responsible for his own welfare. Doing nothing does not absolve you from your duty of care. Time is critical. Resist the passive response. You have a coachload of children to care for too. Plan, communicate and act.
B) Scream if you wanna go faster It’s important that you act quickly, and that the safety of all the children is taken into consideration. Some strong leadership is essential on the ground, but taking the time to communicate with the head and parents is a wise move.
C) Runaway train Abandoning children on a school trip is, unsurprisingly, not an option. Make sure that you have an agreed plan for obvious risks before you leave so that there are no arguments about process with adults who should know better. Your duty of care is not exhausted until you hand Jack over to his parents.
(Sadly, all events are based on true stories)…
Paul Dix is a lead trainer at Pivotal Education and co-presenter of the Pivotal Podcast
The Pivotal Curriculum is a licensed trainer scheme that allows every school to deliver Pivotal Behaviour and Safeguarding Training – you find out more at pivotalcurriculum.com and by following @pivotalpaul
