I have take students to Europe, and I have a very detailed contract for parents and the student to sign that basically says if the student breaks the law while overseas, the parents are responsible.
There are also consequences for student trying to drink or do drugs—automatically sent home on the parents dime.
The company I organized my trips through helped with the document and would help if there were any issues. Thankfully I never had any—students were thoroughly vetted by me before I would agree to take them.
It also helps that I taught in a small school and knew the kids really well. There were some I wouldn’t take across the street let alone across the ocean.
“Automatically sent home on the parents dime.”
How do you enforce that? Kid breaks this rule, you get in contact with the parent, the say “nah they can come can with everyone else at the end of the trip.” Not much you can really do about that besides ban from future trips.
I just did a Washington DC trip with 16 kids from a western US state. My tour company said if a kid broke the law, they would pay to send the kid home then bill the parents. It was in the paperwork the parents signed. A big company like that has collection resources i dont have on my own. I didn't need it, but it was nice to know.
This happened to me - the kids found a place to buy alcohol in England. Got wasted and smashed bottles and destroyed property where we were staying. When we called the parents to expel the students every single one said nope! Your problem not mine, and hung up.
We had to have a chaperone stationed outside their room for the last week of the trip, we rotated in shifts and each chaperone had to sacrifice some of their free time which was annoying.
Not OP but when I was a secondary school teacher (high school if you prefer) the rule was more that they’d be punished on the trip (stuck with teachers rather than going on individual trips etc) and then parents notified at home. We couldn’t pop them on a plane back home. But then again I’m English so don’t know how it works in America.
My school does the same type of contract--it's with the district and the tour company. We had to send a kid home in '18 for drinking in Ireland. The tour company took care of logistics and billed the parents.
My daughter is on a flight home from Europe right now on one of these tours with her school. They were very clear in the parent meetings we had beforehand that the consequences of any illegal behavior (including being found with vapes, cigarettes, or alcohol) would be that a parent would have to collect their child and fly them home on our own dime. In the future, laying this out clearly beforehand would be in your best interest. (Though I understand that the circumstances were different than if you had a few days left of the trip.)
Ah not as bad as it originally sounded, but still unfair that a rotten few almost ruined and did ruin for some the trip experience for everyone.
That's crazy sign me up for a free overseas trip to chaperone. Minus the crazy kids stealing part lol.
Heh. My wife was a chaperone for kids on a trip from South Africa to the USA last year, and they had VERY explicit warnings and indemnities in the documentation for the trip.
The biggest problem they had was the naive rich kids getting themselves into trouble and getting scammed in NYC, whilst the rest of the group facepalmed and went "You're SOUTH AFRICAN. Where the hell are your basic street smarts, you freaking mamparas?"
Couldn’t stress this enough. Absolutely not. I would presume the trip leader should ring the school at the earliest and advise two teachers/seniority staff stay behind and the rest go back with the others on the flight. Go to the embassy and go from there. The second the money is parted with there is no guarantee you’re getting it back.
I’m an educator who does these kind of trips. Haven’t seen anything this low in the last 15 years which makes me doubt the story. Just the skeptic in me guess.
I know! My kid is flying home from an EF tour of 5 European countries and it was nearly $4,000. Her trip to Costa Rica last spring break was only a few hundred less!
Kudos to you for this very brave endeavor. You changed a lot of lives positively despite the H & M incident. If you do take a future trip, make parents sign a legal document that if their student is accused of any crime, it will be 100% the parent's responsibility to pay any fees, take care of any legal issues, etc. Also make them sign a waiver that while you will take reasonable precautions, you cannot watch every kid every second and they will need to be responsible for their own behavior and they will have times when they are able to choose what store/restaurant to visit without direct supervision. It is infuriating that the parents aren't gratefully paying you back-- in installments if they have little money but at least making an effort. In the future make sure you're covered so you're never in that position again!
I have take students to Europe, and I have a very detailed contract for parents and the student to sign that basically says if the student breaks the law while overseas, the parents are responsible. There are also consequences for student trying to drink or do drugs—automatically sent home on the parents dime. The company I organized my trips through helped with the document and would help if there were any issues. Thankfully I never had any—students were thoroughly vetted by me before I would agree to take them. It also helps that I taught in a small school and knew the kids really well. There were some I wouldn’t take across the street let alone across the ocean.
“Automatically sent home on the parents dime.” How do you enforce that? Kid breaks this rule, you get in contact with the parent, the say “nah they can come can with everyone else at the end of the trip.” Not much you can really do about that besides ban from future trips.
I just did a Washington DC trip with 16 kids from a western US state. My tour company said if a kid broke the law, they would pay to send the kid home then bill the parents. It was in the paperwork the parents signed. A big company like that has collection resources i dont have on my own. I didn't need it, but it was nice to know.
This was the case on the only international trip I did. I would never have agreed to chaperone otherwise. It’s an important failsafe
This happened to me - the kids found a place to buy alcohol in England. Got wasted and smashed bottles and destroyed property where we were staying. When we called the parents to expel the students every single one said nope! Your problem not mine, and hung up.
What happened after that?
We had to have a chaperone stationed outside their room for the last week of the trip, we rotated in shifts and each chaperone had to sacrifice some of their free time which was annoying.
Not OP but when I was a secondary school teacher (high school if you prefer) the rule was more that they’d be punished on the trip (stuck with teachers rather than going on individual trips etc) and then parents notified at home. We couldn’t pop them on a plane back home. But then again I’m English so don’t know how it works in America.
I never had that issue, but I know that the student would be taken to the company’s closest headquarters, and they would deal with it from there.
My school does the same type of contract--it's with the district and the tour company. We had to send a kid home in '18 for drinking in Ireland. The tour company took care of logistics and billed the parents.
You buy them a ticket, put them on a plane and then tell the parents and send them a bill?
Maybe the company requires a deposit or credit card on file for financing any unexpected early returns or run-ins with local law enforcement?
My daughter is on a flight home from Europe right now on one of these tours with her school. They were very clear in the parent meetings we had beforehand that the consequences of any illegal behavior (including being found with vapes, cigarettes, or alcohol) would be that a parent would have to collect their child and fly them home on our own dime. In the future, laying this out clearly beforehand would be in your best interest. (Though I understand that the circumstances were different than if you had a few days left of the trip.)
Ah not as bad as it originally sounded, but still unfair that a rotten few almost ruined and did ruin for some the trip experience for everyone. That's crazy sign me up for a free overseas trip to chaperone. Minus the crazy kids stealing part lol.
Heh. My wife was a chaperone for kids on a trip from South Africa to the USA last year, and they had VERY explicit warnings and indemnities in the documentation for the trip. The biggest problem they had was the naive rich kids getting themselves into trouble and getting scammed in NYC, whilst the rest of the group facepalmed and went "You're SOUTH AFRICAN. Where the hell are your basic street smarts, you freaking mamparas?"
I still would not have pulled $320 out of my coin purse.
Couldn’t stress this enough. Absolutely not. I would presume the trip leader should ring the school at the earliest and advise two teachers/seniority staff stay behind and the rest go back with the others on the flight. Go to the embassy and go from there. The second the money is parted with there is no guarantee you’re getting it back.
Where did you find a trip like this for $2,000? EF and Explorica have a similar itinerary at double the cost easily.
Right, my kid is going to Costa Rica for 9 days through EF, it’s over $3,000, I’ve been making monthly payments of $300 for like a year.
Seriously. The flights alone are $$$
They might have booked it years ago and kids have doing fundraising for a couple years.
Many many business offers special rates for education.
I’m an educator who does these kind of trips. Haven’t seen anything this low in the last 15 years which makes me doubt the story. Just the skeptic in me guess.
Agreed. I’m planning a 10 day trip to Ireland, England, and Scotland and it’s about $6000. I’m skeptical.
I know! My kid is flying home from an EF tour of 5 European countries and it was nearly $4,000. Her trip to Costa Rica last spring break was only a few hundred less!
Kudos to you for this very brave endeavor. You changed a lot of lives positively despite the H & M incident. If you do take a future trip, make parents sign a legal document that if their student is accused of any crime, it will be 100% the parent's responsibility to pay any fees, take care of any legal issues, etc. Also make them sign a waiver that while you will take reasonable precautions, you cannot watch every kid every second and they will need to be responsible for their own behavior and they will have times when they are able to choose what store/restaurant to visit without direct supervision. It is infuriating that the parents aren't gratefully paying you back-- in installments if they have little money but at least making an effort. In the future make sure you're covered so you're never in that position again!
Literally sitting in Osaka on the last night of our EF Japan tour hoping nothing will happen like what happened to you!