It’s a Safety Issue: Lies Parents Are Told When Their Child Can’t Attend a Field Trip

A school administrator once told me, “If you want to exclude a student from a field trip, just tell the parents it’s about safety. No one can argue with safety.”

And they were right. What parent wants to be the one who insists their child be sent into a situation labeled unsafe? What parent wants to risk their child being hurt, shamed, or blamed? The word “safety” shuts down the conversation before it even begins. It’s the perfect cover.

But here’s what administrators don’t say: if your whole class cannot successfully attend a field trip you're planning, then maybe you shouldn’t go.

Instead, we see the same pattern repeat itself. A student with a disability or behavioral difference is told to stay home. A parent is pressured to take a day off work to “support their child,” not as a volunteer, but as a condition of inclusion. Or the entire class is punished with the message that, because of a few students’ behavior, no one gets to go.

This is not about safety. This is exclusion in disguise.

Let’s be clear: field trips are not a reward for good behavior or an optional extra for those who meet certain expectations. They are a part of the educational experience, just like any other day in the classroom. If we claim to believe in inclusive education, then "inclusive" must truly mean everyone. It cannot only apply to the students who can navigate the dynamics of a field trip, including unpredictable settings, long transitions, sensory overload, and complex social expectations, without support.

True inclusion means recognizing that all students, regardless of their needs, have a right to participate fully. It means understanding that if a student requires accommodations to attend a trip safely and meaningfully, those accommodations are not a burden or an exception. They play a crucial role in creating an equitable learning environment. Inclusion doesn’t stop when the classroom doors open to the outside world. If a trip cannot include everyone, then it is not inclusive, and we need to ask why we are planning it in the first place.

If a field trip can’t accommodate the needs of the students in the classroom, then the issue isn’t the students. It’s the field trip.

Inclusive field trip planning means anticipating the needs and reducing the risk for all students, not using "risk" as a loophole to exclude the ones who require support. 

Parents deserve more than a convenient excuse. Students deserve more than a quiet cancellation.

Because exclusion wrapped in the language of safety is still exclusion.

And our kids deserve better.