<p>NO. never. ever. ever.</p>
<p>this was started in our local town more than 5-6 years ago. i was one of the few moms who said no. by the time my youngest was a senior, he didn’t even ask.</p>
<p>mathmom-- I was just about to bring up language club trips abroad. Are you all against these even though the drinking age in Europe is lower than the US? Even if teachers are traveling w/ the students?</p>
<p>In HS, my S traveled in Europe w/ American Music Abroad and My D w/ her French club. In both cases they said, if they wanted to, they could have purchased alcohol legally. In both cases, they had free time away from chaperone’s. Some kids purchased alcohol, some did not. Both of my kids had wonderful experiences on their trips and I would say yes again.</p>
<p>^^morrismm: no,not at all…these are not education/school trips…these are “spring break” trips (think MTV, not the History Channel)…</p>
<p>In both cases they said, if they wanted to, they could have purchased alcohol legally. In both cases, they had free time away from chaperone’s. Some kids purchased alcohol, some did not.</p>
<p>That would have been a deal breaker for kids at my daughters schools. If discovered, they would have been sent home on their own dime- They were expected to behave on all school trips with the same rules that they would have in their city as a representative of their school- i.e. drinking & drugs would never be OK.
( when my older daughter was in Costa Rica, someone ordered a smoothie at breakfast & it had alcohol in it- but they sent it back & even though my younger daughter had a layover in Amsterdam on their way to Accra, I don’t believe anyone took advantage of the exotic offerings)</p>
<p>rodney–the point is, the “educational” trips can be almost as wild as the spring break ones. If the drinking age is legal for the students, they can drink!!</p>
<p>EK–actually American Music Abroad (AMA) told us our kids would be allowed to drink because it is such a part of the culture in certain countries (beer-Germany, wine-France, etc.) We had to supply a written request for them NOT to be allowed to drink if we did not want them to. We allowed our S to drink. It was supervised and they were limited to one or two drinks.</p>
<p>The AMA trip included many HS students from several states. It was not students from my S’s HS only. That is how they got away w/ allowing the supervised drinking. My D’s trip included only students from her HS. She said a lot of kids drank because they could legally. They did it on their free time. Their HS expected them to behave by the same rules as home, but many choose to abide by the rules of the country they were in. You know, when in Rome…</p>
<p>I guess the rules for the foreign language trips depends on the school. D’s French teacher was very explicit about anyone caught drinking, like EK’s experience, they would be sent home at the parents’ expense! It was a school sponsored trip through EF, and the teacher was there. I know another school where the trip took place in the summer, and if the parents gave written permission, the kids were allowed to have wine with meals.</p>
<p>I would not allow my HS senior to go to an all-inclusive resort in the Bahamas for spring break. I did allow her to go with friends to Disney World a few weeks after graduation.</p>
<p>I allowed both my S and D to go on spring break trips. (Mexico, can’t remember the name of the town, and Puerto Rico.) With S, I really didn’t know the extent of his habitual partying at the time, and with D, she is kind of straight-laced, so I wasn’t worried. D ended up spending most nights alone in the hotel room while everyone else was at the bars (she called me every night because she was lonely and bored). I think the whole thing was about 4 days too long for her.</p>
<p>Just wanted to say, it doesn’t matter whether it’s an “educational” trip or a spring fling. There will be alcohol, and most likely bar-hopping of some type, unless it’s very strictly chaperoned. Even then, there will probably be tippling in the rooms. It doesn’t matter how old they are either. During spring break, no one is carding anywhere at these resort areas.</p>
<p>Of course, this doesn’t mean your child will participate, but be aware that most do, at least according to my D. </p>
<p>I would probably still say “yes”, but I know for sure that D wouldn’t want to repeat the experience.</p>
<p>I think the public drinking by youth and adults in the UK influenced my D’s experience negatively. She went through England on the way home from India, and although she had been fascinated with London for the past ten years, I think it bothered her.</p>
<p>I didn’t ask if she drank in India, she traveled for a month a good deal of the time with people who were out of college- and in a region which to me sounded like Rio, or at least Shang-ri-la ( Goa, in Southern India), but at least public consumption of alcohol was frowned upon.</p>
<p>morrismm, the trip my son brought up wouldn’t be a language trip - German isn’t taught at our school. My friend’s son *was *on a language trip. And that’s part of the problem - he was old enough to drink in France, but the high school rules were that there was to be no drinking. That’s just asking for trouble IMO. </p>
<p>For my kids, drinking is one of the few things I don’t have to worry about - neither has developed a taste for alcohol - and they are stubborn enough not to be willing to try it. I spent a year in France and 5 in Germany - I’ve observed groups of Americans on these group trips - they socialize with each other and don’t get much practice in the language at all. I just don’t see them as that valuable. My son has been to Scotland, France, Japan and even a few days in Germany - so it’s not as if he’s never been overseas.</p>
<p>I didn’t categorically say no - because part of me would love to go to Germany - so my first thought was maybe I could be a chaperone. And my second thought was - and be responsible for all those other kids? Ack no! </p>
<p>I travelled alone in Europe from the time I was 16. I know both the ups and downs. (Met my share of dirty old men, flashers, but only once put myself in a truly scary situation hitchhiking etc.)</p>
<p>nope. This type of trip makes no sense at all to me</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses. So far, only one parent has admitted to allowing her children to participate in this kind of trip and most others have vehemently expressed their opposition. Although they may be in the minority, there are obviously many parents who think these spring break trips are fine.</p>
<p>BTW, we allow our teen to drink wine with dinner at home and when weve traveled abroad. And while hes always behaved in a trustworthy manner and I think highly of some of the other kids who are going, I just cant see allowing him to be in that likely chaotic environment for a week.</p>
<p>Here, the high school trips to Europe have a zero tolerance policy towards drinking and drugs, even though the laws there differ from ours. I dont doubt that some drinking occurs on these trips, but at least I know that there are teachers along who take on some responsibility to try to prevent this.</p>
<p>My kids have been three high school sponsored trips outside the U.S. and inevitably, a few of the kids have been caught drinking on each trip. They pay the price when they return to school. The teachers that chaperone are taking on a huge responsibility and some of them have refused to chaperone any more trips. One teacher even resigned shortly after returning, but I think there were other issues involved. The kids don’t seem to realize that they are endangering the whole program for future students.</p>
<p>Two of mine went on spring trips their senior year of high school. The first was with a group of parents who have known each other for years. We went too. Although there was some drinking on the trip, it certainly wasn’t the main focus. It was about 20 boys and 12 parents. We had a wonderful time. </p>
<p>For the second we weren’t able to go because of work schedules. But he went with a smaller group of boys and there were two groups of parents. Six boys, four parents. He seemed to have a great time.</p>
<p>One of them went on a spring break trip his sophomore year in college fully paid for by him. I was amused that he even bothered to ask permission. We told him that at that point those were his decisions to make. Both boys graduated from college in four years with high gpa’s, so I guess they survived.</p>
<p>I kind of resent the “rich kid” remark. We have the money to both take them on a trip their senior year and fully pay for college. Don’t see how it’s anybody’s business how we spend the money.</p>
<p>I think you need to know the kid, the friends they hang out with, and the parents.</p>
<p>
Sometimes the whole point of the trip is to find someplace warm that is affordable so more can go and where the group doesn’t have to worry about where to eat every meal and that the kids have enough money with them to pay for the meals. An all inclusive resort fits that bill. We’ve actually gone to one of these places with a large FAMILY group. Thirty five people ranging in age from 2 to 80. Works very well. Have also done it with a high school spring break trip. </p>
<p>Just because you either don’t trust your child on such a trip, or can’t afford it doesn’t mean you should criticize others who choose this option. We also had a group of 16 kids and 8 parents and it worked fine. Main focus was on water sports and sunshine. I’m certainly not going to say that none of the kids ever drank, but we saw them all the time and they didn’t drink to excess. Seemed a good way to teach them to do so responsibly before they go off to college on their own at a place where it is legal. All of our group was 18.</p>
<p>fordiscussion you are talking about a different situation…the OP is talking about no chaperones…the problem is that without some parental supervision some of the kids will drink to excess. They will put themselves in situations they shouldn’t be in…hence the warning about sexual assaults by the State Department. The sexual rules in Mexico, the Bahamas, and many other places differ greatly from what is the norm in the US, particularly with regard to how men approach women and to age restrictions.
Come on…no one is talking about criticizing a family trip.
For what its worth our now 18 and 21 year old have travelled extensively both with and without us. The most harrowing stories I heard were from our son who went to Egypt with a high school group at 16. He came back with stories of young girls in the group getting drunk, and one near sexual assault where he intervened. When he came home is comment to me was “have they never heard of Natalee Holloway?”<br>
If there is any peace for her family it should be that a whole generation of kids now understands the risks of that kind of behavior.</p>
<p>
good for you.</p>
<p>My answer would be NO but my kids knew not to even ask.</p>
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<p>At our public high schools in Southern California no, it’s not common. There are lots of kids who are going to Mexico and points south during winter break, but that’s because they are going to visit family. </p>
<p>At the private high schools around here, there might be spring break trips or winter vacation trips, but the parent to student ratio would definitely be larger than 1:10. I’d be worried about one of the students slipping through the cracks and not having a “buddy” who could raise the alarm if something went awry.</p>
<p>It isn’t at all common around here. Among the people I know well, it is nonexistent.</p>
<p>But to make sure no such suggestion arises, daughter and I are planning a last pre-college ‘mom and me’ trip to a location of her choosing. (It is NORTH and the weather will stink, but it is where she wants to go. Her dad does not want to shiver on spring break, and that is why it will be just ‘mom and me’.)</p>
<p>I don’t think we have to feel compelled to finance a service trip, as some are suggesting. I think the resort affairs are a bad idea, but it has nothing to do with ‘wasting’ the money.</p>
<p>Since the trip is unchaperoned, it would be a definite “NO” at my house too.</p>
<p>This type of trip is common around here. Bahamas is a favorite destination. Some parents see the spring break trip, as a last time the kids can spend together.
I told S it’s not a good idea, when he told me about it.
My kids go to parties where parents are present, and kids still drink.
FWIW, My oldest HS, has a community service spring break for the seniors. They spend one week working for Habitat, and get to stay on a local college campus.</p>