Middle school tour group from heck

[jaxsue]

Etiquette Hell will be inundated with new members, thanks to the link in a PP. I will be suspicious of anyone who joins since the story broke, just to post in this thread.

The article in the link gives a name: Kristine Vandecar. She is ID'd in the article, so it's not as if I'm outting her. She must be a member of Etiquette Hell, but since this was leaked, I hope not for long.

[IndianInlaw]

Well, hits on the site will enrich E-Hell Dame, will they not?

(Really, I don't know how that works, but I'm assuming that's the case)

She can ban inappropriate posters.

(Don't ask me how I know )

[MC Clapyohanz]

I went on "The Washington Trip" when I was in 8th grade back in '94. I got yelled at by the lady in the room across from ours (or my classmate's, I can't remember who's it was) because another student loudly said, "People look like ants down there!" She opened her door & said, "We've just come from all the way across the Atlantic & we're tired!" She had an English accent. I didn't say anything because, well, I'm timid that way. At least my friend wasn't being malicious, just thoughtless. She didn't scream it but she was loud.

That trip was a lot of fun, and being from CA, a learning experience in how the east coast & west coasts are laid out/designed differently.

There was a rumor that one of the boys somehow ordered p*rn to the room he was staying in (4 kids to a room, 2 beds). He also didn't tuck in his silk dress shirt when he was one of the kids chosen to present a wreath (is that what it was? I can't remember now) at the Changing of the Guard. Even as clueless as I was at 13 I thought that was disrespectful & was embarrassed by it even though I was only in the crowd. And his mom was a chaperone. She was a nice lady, he was a typical, somewhat popular, middle school boy jerk.

I think there were some kids running in the hallways of the hotels we stayed at, but I'm not sure of anything other than what I posted above that was horrible.

Oh, in NYC, our bus got hit by a taxi on its way to pick us up & take us to our hotel. The bus won.  

[ettacat]

Secret, EttaCat: Just to clarify, DCGirl said that the chaperone and a tour guide both said the students were from Lansing, Michigan.  She didn't make a mistake.

The reason I said that they were from Lansing, MI, is that when I walked up to one of the chaperones and asked him if the could get the kids to calm down, his response was, "Gimme a break!  They've been cooped up on the bus all night from Lansing, MI, and they need to blow off some steam."  The next day, when we went to the third site on our itinerary, we asked the guide if he'd had a large tour group the day before.  He said, "Oh, yes.  There was a big group from Lansing, MI." 

Oops. Missed that. Sorry.

[DCGirl]

Just an FYI, please do the research before putting the blame on an innocent city.  I was appalled by the students behavior as well and being from Lansing, MI  it was appalling as well to think that our kids would have such bad behavior on a field trip.  I did some research and quite frankly there are a lot of Lansing Schools out there that are not just in Michigan so before you put the blame on and send your letters, I would suggest you find the right school!  The following was in our newspaper yesterday.

February 20, 2008
[ From lsj.com ]
Lansing students falsely accused of bad behavior on Web site
Midday update
John Schneider
Lansing State Journal


Allow me to suggest a project for a Lansing middle school class - or, better yet, several of them.
Log onto the Web site Etiquette Hell Forum (http://www.etiquettehell.com/smf/index.php?topic=26264.0) and pummel it with polite, but pointed, posts explaining why it's in exceedingly poor taste to spread information that is both false and defamatory.
Also, demand an apology.
On Wednesday I got an e-mail from Kristine Vandecar of Lansing, in which she sent me the link. Vandecar wrote:
"I found a posting about some horribly behaved Lansing students. I am embarrassed as a resident of Lansing. I would hope that the children in our area could comport themselves in a far better manner than common hooligans."
Vandcar's link took me to a note posted Monday by a person who had spent the weekend touring historic sites in and around Charlottesville, Va.
The poster wrote: "We were sitting on a bench at Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's home) ... when THEY arrived - four bus loads of middle-schoolers from Lansing, MI. I have never seen a more poorly behaved group of students ... They were loud, obnoxious, rude and disruptive."
The poster goes on for six long paragraphs, describing a barrage of boorish acts.
The thing is, the students were NOT from Lansing Schools. Not Lansing, Michigan, anyway. According to spokesman Stephen Serkaian, there hasn't been a single middle-school field trip out of the state this year.

Once again, both the chaperones and the tour guides TOLD ME that the group was from Lansing, MI.  Not Lansing, OH or Lansing, TX or any of the other Lansings in the U.S.  I live in a town named Springfield so, believe me, I know that place names repeat across the country. 

There are any number of other ways that a group of middle school aged-children from in and around Lansing, MI can get to Charlottesville, VA without taking a school field trip. 

[jlm615]

I am appalled that you would make such accussations w/o first making sure you have the right school system.  According to the Superintendant of the Lansing school disctrict (here in Michigan) there have been no overnight trips taken AT ALL this year by any school in the Lansing school district.  There are other Lansing's, don't you know.  Not only is there a Lansing, MI, but also a Lansing, NY, Lansing, Minn., Lansing, N.C., etc.

I just wanted to defend our school district on this issue.  I wanted to set you straight on your egregious error - the kids who terrorized your visit were not from Michigan at all.  To make such pointed assumptions and name the city and supposed state from which these kids were from was not in itself wrong, but you blamed the wrong people.  I feel that you owe the Lansing, MI school district and the children in it an apology. 

[IndianInlaw]

I will not get banned again.

I will not get banned again.

I will not get banned again.

I will not get banned again.

[Alida]

Please read the original post, jlm615.  The chaperones stated that they were from Lansing, MI (lovely town, I used to go there every May for a convention).  As the OP pointed out, and several PPs also, there are other ways for groups of middle school kids to go on a trip that doesn't have to involve the school.

(IIL: No being banned!)

Edited because I got my two conventions confused!  Ann Arbor is in November

[IndianInlaw]

Aaarrrgghh....

Must....not....say...anything....banworthy....

[lansingmom767]

I too would love to defend the Lansing, MI School District, BUT if those of you that continue to insist that the children were not from Michigan at all, need to realize you may be wrong. We do have private schools in Lansing and the surrounding areas, we also have charter schools, and as the OP stated, the chaperones told her they were from Lansing, MI. While we have been informed that these children were not from the Lansing School District's Middle Schools, it is still entirely possible that these kids WERE from the Lansing MICHIGAN area. I agree that Lansing MI is probably the best known Lansing, and having lived in the city for 10+ years and worked outside of the city for a good portion, I have said that I work in Lansing to someone from another area, because are they likely to know where Okemos, MI is? No, but Lansing, yes. Sorry rambling.

If the original intention was to slam Lansing School District's Middle Schoolers, then I agree that an apology is needed. If it was not the intention, which it seems to me is the largest possibility, free speech baby.

And just as a side note... Lansing School District has had some very bumpy years with drops in enrollment and the surrounding area schools being downright nasty to the kids that do attend LSD among other issues. As a mother whose children attend LSD, you honestly do not know someones situation until you have all the facts. LSD has the ONLY International Baccalaureate High School program in mid-Michigan, and has just received grants for one of the middle schools and an elementary school to be the IB feeders into this program. My point... we are very protective of our schools, our students, and our reputation. That might be why this has been made into such a huge issue.

Not knowing who these children were, I too apologize to the OP as a mother who would be horrified to hear if my children and/or their school mates acted as you described.

[Alida]

Aaarrrgghh....

Must....not....say...anything....banworthy....

*hands IndianInLaw tape for her fingers in here*

[hot_shaker]

Once again, both the chaperones and the tour guides TOLD ME that the group was from Lansing, MI.  Not Lansing, OH or Lansing, TX or any of the other Lansings in the U.S.  I live in a town named Springfield so, believe me, I know that place names repeat across the country. 

Hey, I'm from Springfield (Virginia, that is)! 

[Kiara]

Aaarrrgghh....

Must....not....say...anything....banworthy....

*hands IIL a pair of mittens*  Now at least if you type anything, it'll be gibberish.  

And thank you lansingmom.  Well said.

[jaxsue]

I predict this thread will be locked. And it's probably a good thing. (thanks, trolls!)

[Alida]

I predict this thread will be locked. And it's probably a good thing. (thanks, trolls!)

I predict your prediction will come true before lunchtime!