<p>The OP knows her kid best, and should go with her gut, although the suggestion that the parents take the young lady to TJ before school starts is a good, practical idea. There seems to be no legitimate need for the passport in this situation, and it seems to invite obvious trouble. When the college freshman turns 18 at Thanksgiving, she becomes an official adult – but the biggest reality of adulthood is paying your own way. So college students who are dependent upon their parents (for greater financial support than they have ever required in the first 18 years of life) should be careful about playing the “I’m an adult” card. I remember the reality of undergrad life as more like “I’m a very young adult who is depending on you to make huge sacrifices for me to attain a personal goal, and I had better not give you cause for concern about my judgment.” If the student presses for something that would seem to be in poor judgment, the parent is fully entitled to press back.</p>
<p>@laplatinum: Thanks for the crime report link.</p>
<p>@Agent99: We’ve only been to Cabo and we just stayed at the resort. She speaks only “un poco la languaje de Espanol solo.”</p>
<p>@fieldsports: Agent99’s suggestion to visit Tijuana, Rosarita Beach and Ensenada is indeed something we should do. Unfortunately, I’m excited to visit those places the same way I’m enthusiastic to walk around in certain areas of Oakland, Detroit, Camden and St. Louis. I should probably look at the trip like giving birth. Painful but rewarding. Although thats probably a wrong analogy on my part since I had a fast, easy delivery.</p>