Kindergarten Field Trip Permission: Fill & Download for Free

One time when I was at a kindergarten spring field trip at a park, I left the kindergarten group without permission. My excuse was I wanted to see what my mother and father were doing. My teachers didn’t realize I went missing. They weren’t many to begin with. And so, I walked six blocks by myself to my parents’ home. Nobody on the streets thought it was unusual for a six year old like me to walk by themselves without their parents. Luckily, I knew my way back to home from memory. When I got home, I didn’t get in trouble even though I missed 50% of my field trip. In the end, I ended up just hanging out at my parents’ place for the rest of the afternoon.

No.I say that for two reasons. First, it should not be an elective. It should be a required course. Second, it should not be just in high schools. It should begin in Kindergarten, and be repeated multiple times. Kindergarten, 2nd grade, 4th grade, 6th grade, 8th grade, 10th grade, and 12th grade. The later years (8th grade onward) to include hands-on marksmanship training and learning how to take proper care of firearms, although parents would be able to give permission to participate in the hands-on portion earlier, if their child is mature enough to follow the instructions of the Range Officer. Parents would also be welcome to accompany the field trip to the firing range.

Whose convenience? The original question did not have “with permission” in it, but that was in Details, which used to be displayed prominently … so I edited the question. The answers standing at this point neglect the cruclal legal issue of permission.First of all, I left in the word “forgery,” but if a signature is affixed with permission, it is not forgery. See Is it legal to forge someone's signature with their consent?This is actually the same question — so this might get merged — but I will here look at special considerations.Definition of forgery from FindLaw.Notice the essential element of forgery as a crime:In most jurisdictions, the crime of forgery is not charged unless the forgery is done with intent to deceive or the attempt to commit fraud or larceny. For instance, works of arts can be copied or replicated without any crime being committed unless someone attempted to sell or represent the copies as originals. In these cases, the copies would become illegal forgeries.So, say, my daughter needs to get a document signed giving her permission to do something. It’s inconvenient to get the document in time, for whatever reason. So she asks if she can sign my name. I do actually concsent to the permission, and so I’ll tell her, yes, she can, but never do this without permission unless it’s a crying emergency and real harm will come if there is no signature, because if I have not given permission it could be forgery which is a crime.Yes, if you are certain I will give permission, you can go ahead, but … you are taking a big risk. It better be actually necessary! And tell me ASAP, because if you believe you need to hide it and it ever comes out, it can look really bad. Much better, we have phones and there is text, but if I’m in Timbuktu…. Actually they probably have phone service in Timbuktu … the world is changing.Meanwhile, intention is almost everything in law. The only problem is that it is hard to prove intention, if push comes to shove, and a faked signature, as others point out elsewhere, can usually be distinguished from the real thing, undetectable forgeries are far more difficult to create than we might think. Tracing will generally fail.So, first of all, is there any issue involved where there could be a big problem if the imitation signature is discovered? Since you have permission, you need to make sure that the person giving permission is completely aware of what they are consenting to. That imaginary daughter has a phone with a camera and can send a photo of the document, and, in fact, the text record, if a problem ever arises can show permission. (And if the signature created an obligation, by giving permission for the signature, the person is obligated just as if they had put pen to paper with their own hand.)Part of developing maturity is learning what is important, and what is not. The actual process of creating the signature is not important. Most signed documents are never again looked at, and nobody knows, then, if the signature was “real” or not. If I were to allow, say, that daughter to use a credit card of mine, with specific permission, and I don’t later claim that, no, I didn’t buy that wig, nobody will ever care if the signature was written by daughter rather than me. It doesn’t actually have to look at all like my signature.Okay, but … if the signature is faked to look like mine, does that make a difference? Yes, if there is fraud involved, it could show intent to deceive. So basic rule: “to live outside the law, you must be honest.” Bob Dylan wrote that, he was a poet and he knew it.So the basic question to ask is what will happen if something unexpected goes wrong.Suppose I give permission and then die. It happens. I like the idea that there is a text record of the permission, because then daughter would be safe from claims of fraud. Or how about I become insane, temporarily or otherwise, and angry with my daughter, so I deny having signed that credit card purchase, so that she will then get in trouble. Nasty, to be sure, but even nice people go crazy sometimes.Bottom line: you can do it, but be careful. It is not illegal in itself, but under some circumstances, it could look illegal. In real life, appearances also matter.Then, how likely is it? If a problem is exceedingly unlikely, it’s not worth much trouble to avoid it. If I’ve given permission for that school field trip, and the daughter tells the truth if it ever comes into question, the risk is that something happens, she is harmed, and then, greedy old bastard that I could be, in some alternative universe, I deny having consented, so as to be able to sue where the signature may have waived the right. In this case, the daughter would have been trained all her life to be honest and truthful and to value that over protecting greedy dads. (or hiding any other kind of abuse). And she’d testify and my scheme would fail. I probably wouldn’t go to jail for it (though it could be possible.) My daughter, being young and beautiful and with high people skills, would convince any judge and jury that the moon was made of whatever she wanted them to think.Ahem, where were we? On the question, Yes, it is “legal” do sign for another person with that person’s permission, as long as no intention to defraud or cause harm is present.The basic idea we should have learned in kindergarten.An example of where some harm might be caused: the signature is intended to show that that specific person was present, when the person was not present. Most signatures are not that, they are intended to show consent to some agreement, and if the person actually gives consent — willing to be bound by the agreement or to live with daughter going on that week field trip — OMG! there will be boys there! Maybe I should think about this more….