People to People Ambassador Program

[DrCavin]

I don't care for how they market the program. My DD went this summer to Canada with P2P. She had an amazing time & saw somethings that she would never be able to see on a family vacation. Is it worth the money, that is upto each individual family & their situation.

 

[DVCLiz]

In our area there is been:
Drinking and drugs
Sex - with stranger from other country
Tattoos
Piercings of different body parts
Rape - although it was not corroborated if it was consensual sex or not, she says no
Lost student
Theft

And that is from only a small portion of the state.

These were juniors and seniors in high school.

The school DD currently attends let 200 kids (9-12) roam freely the streets of NYC at night! These are not, by any stretch of the imagination, street wise children. They have been lucky.

During middle school the area schools let the children of 8th grade wander around Washington DC. A friend is a teacher there, and they do not let their students do that - in their own city!

There is nothing on that list that the average high school student out with friends on a Friday night couldn't do/acquire/participate in in any town in America. With the possible exception of a rape - which could also happen anywhere at any time to any female. I'd say it is far more the case of individual students and the choices they make based on their own personalities/morals, etc than the fact of being in a foreign country.

I have different standards for middle schoolers but high school students should absolutely be able to navigate NYC at night without an adult holding their hand, as long as they have adequate directions and have been prepared to stay out of obvious bad neighborhoods.

I learned this the hard way when DD21 was a senior in high school. We went to NYC to see a show and were walking through Times Square afterward about 11:30pm or midnight. I was scared and holding on to her arm pretty tightly when suddenly we saw two girls from her high school walking toward us - by themselves! With no parents at all! They had visited a college and were out for the night - and were going to ride the subway "home" to a relative's house.

Boy, was that an eye opener for me. Less than 6 months after that trip those girls were going to be college students in NYC on their own. It gave me a perspective I needed.

Funny I had far less trepidation about international trips than I did about NYC!

 

[klj27]

My husband works in a school and some of his parents were just asking him about this last month. He said there is nothing wrong with the company but they need to realize it is a travel agency and nothing more. Do not look at it like your child was "chosen".

 

[CoP Luv]

I got a letter in high school and my mom and I went to the information session to look into it. This was a long time ago, but no one else that I knew of got a letter. My parents were willing to let me go to Australia with P2P or I could go abroad in college. I decided that three weeks versus the year that I was going to spend in Rome was not worth losing my Rome year over.

Studying abroad is a much better experience for your child than any of these trips.

 

[We_Love_Disney]

There is nothing on that list that the average high school student out with friends on a Friday night couldn't do/acquire/participate in in any town in America. With the possible exception of a rape - which could also happen anywhere at any time to any female. I'd say it is far more the case of individual students and the choices they make based on their own personalities/morals, etc than the fact of being in a foreign country.

I have different standards for middle schoolers but high school students should absolutely be able to navigate NYC at night without an adult holding their hand, as long as they have adequate directions and have been prepared to stay out of obvious bad neighborhoods.

I learned this the hard way when DD21 was a senior in high school. We went to NYC to see a show and were walking through Times Square afterward about 11:30pm or midnight. I was scared and holding on to her arm pretty tightly when suddenly we saw two girls from her high school walking toward us - by themselves! With no parents at all! They had visited a college and were out for the night - and were going to ride the subway "home" to a relative's house.

Boy, was that an eye opener for me. Less than 6 months after that trip those girls were going to be college students in NYC on their own. It gave me a perspective I needed.

Funny I had far less trepidation about international trips than I did about NYC!

Be willing to bet that Natalie Holloway's family feels differently.

 

[Mrs. Darcy]

I went to Australia with PTP when I was in h.s.!

If you can get past the part about "it's an honor to be chosen to go" (which is baloney, they send letters to everyone) and you have the money, it's a great experience!

I really learned a lot and I have to admit it was fun going to places in Australia and our group being introduces as Student Ambassadors. We went to an Australian h.s. and sat in on classes for a day, we met Eisenhower's daughter at a dinner, we surfed on sand dunes, Sydney Opera house... etc. Before we went, like starting from about 6 months before, we had mini "history" lessons sent to us by one of our chaperones like weekly which got us excited about all we'd see and do.

There's a VERY detailed packing list they give you, like how may pairs of underwear to bring etc, and for especially the younger kids it helped them be a little more independent taking care of their things. There are strict rules about being neat and orderly and it was a good life experience.

About the fundraising, yes they did send letters about that but we chose not to participate in that. We were never hassled about it at all.

About it having any bearing on college, well it had none whatsoever for me.

Safety: we were very well supervised and could go no where without chaperones, not even in the hotels.

If you have the money to spare, I'd say DO IT! Your child will have the time of her life being with her peers across the world. She'll never forget it.

 

[wvjules]

It does sound like a good experience and I'm sure she'd enjoy it but I think studying abroad while in college might be more beneficial. Since it really doesn't do much for her college applications then we will probably will pass. She'd also have to give up Christmas/New Year's in Hawai'i for it so I'm thinking she might pass too.

I also kind of assumed that it was an "everyone gets it" letter/invite simply based on DD's academic performance up to this point in her school career.

 

[Wonderlandmom]

We get and throw the letters in the garbage. We plan to take our two in 2 years.
This was big in the news awhile back. Worth reading.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/01/p2p_hill.html

 

[RitaE]

Look at it as a vacation and you can decide for yourself whether or not it is worth the price tag. How well it is supervised will largely depend upon the regional group and who they are sending as chaperones. As far as being "Ambassadors," knowing some of the kids here who have went on those trips I'd personally like to apologize to all of Australia on behalf of the citizens of the United States.

If you want something that will look impressive on a college app you might research some of those work/volunteer abroad programs. We have a friend whose son went with a Missionary group to Africa where he helped to build community structures (bath houses etc) and gave English lessons to kids. I know our Church sends yearly groups down to Costa Rica where they volunteer at an orphanage. I know there are other non-religious groups out there who offer similar opportunities for High School students. Sometimes I see them in magazines for US locations such as Appalachia etc.

 

[mjkacmom]

Boy, was that an eye opener for me. Less than 6 months after that trip those girls were going to be college students in NYC on their own. It gave me a perspective I needed.

Funny I had far less trepidation about international trips than I did about NYC!

I remember driving my neighbor's dd16 to the NYC bus stop one night because her band was playing, and her parents weren't home! She now goes to college there. My parents always encouraged us to take the bus to the city.

 

[DVCLiz]

Be willing to bet that Natalie Holloway's family feels differently.

Poor Natalee Holloway - not only is she dead but now she gets to be the whipping boy for every high school parent who can't or won't let the apron strings go.

Of course awful things can happen to kids who are abroad with limited supervision. The same kinds of awful things can and do happen to kids every day in the US.

I'm glad I have the perspective to see that those kinds of things are rare, no matter where a kid is, and not worth hiding at home for. If someone else chooses to keep their children safely at home through the end of high school that is certainly their choice. I wouldn't feel I had done a good parenting job preparing my child for independent college living if I had sheltered him or her to that degree.

 

[MichelleVW]

Unfortunately I know someone that has regretted it. Her DS should never have gone. I know he has issues with his emotions but he's not a dumb kid. He went to China and had a very bad experience. He was physically sick and wanted to speak to his mother. They refused to let him call her. He ended up with diarhea and vomiting. He apparently asked to call home repeatedly and they would not let him. Eventually he pulled the old - "If you don't let me call my mom and go home I'm going to hurt myself." He was on the next plane home with one of the few chaperones. She now tells everyone this story as a warning. Do I agree with what her son did? I don't know. But I do know that I would be pissed as hell if my kid was denied a phone call home.

I'm sorry that happened to your friend's son, but my DD called me a million times while she was on both trips. They had a girl who had a small medical emergency while on the trip and that was handled beautifully too. But we had great chaperones (same ones on both trips)

I don't care for how they market the program. My DD went this summer to Canada with P2P. She had an amazing time & saw somethings that she would never be able to see on a family vacation. Is it worth the money, that is upto each individual family & their situation.

Agreed!!

 

[Magic Mom]

My 9 year old got one a few weeks ago. Her trip was to Europe during next summer when she would be 10.

Ummm, not a chance!

Seems like a travel agency with a good marketing department to me.

Bingo!

 

[Magic Mom]

Be willing to bet that Natalie Holloway's family feels differently.

Natalie Holloway was a legal adult. She could go where she wanted with or without her mommy's consent. Perhaps if her parents had given her a little more freedom when she was younger, Natalie would have learned to make better decisions when she had real freedom. I don't really know if that's true, it's just speculation of course.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

Please read hte link posted on the pp. I remember another thread about P2P and the mom of the boy in the article joined in. Her son died because he was denied medical care. It was also discovered that they flat out lie in their marketing tactics. I'm not saying that these trips are not good, but I would be leery of a company that uses lies to recruit.

 

[We_Love_Disney]

Natalie Holloway was a legal adult. She could go where she wanted with or without her mommy's consent. Perhaps if her parents had given her a little more freedom when she was younger, Natalie would have learned to make better decisions when she had real freedom. I don't really know if that's true, it's just speculation of course.

OMG are you serious? What a sick and twisted thing to say.

 

[Magic Mom]

OMG are you serious? What a sick and twisted thing to say.

The point was that none of us know how Natalies mother feels or felt. And anytime we throw her name out to prove a point about how someone should or should not parent we are just guessing at how she might feel.

 

[Inigo]

I also kind of assumed that it was an "everyone gets it" letter/invite simply based on DD's academic performance up to this point in her school career.

My daughter got these letters for years. So did the made up name that she used on several internet boards (for teens/pre-teens) she was on. She also got the letters addressed to her middle name. It was funny to pull out three letters from the mailbox, all on the same day, saying you are so special we're want you to be our ambassador, when one of the people didn't exist, and the other two people were the same person.

It's an over-priced travel agency.

 

[aprilgail2]

People will tell you about how they heard it was unsafe, or run badly, or whatever, but I have yet to talk to someone who sent their child on one of these trips that has regretted it..

That is exactly it-- I know many people who have went and they have nothing but greatthings to say about it. The people that put it down are hte people that have never went but have heard about it from my sisters cousins friends neighbors mother. If you don't want to send your child that is fine but don't use the "hearsay" excuse to justify your decision.
My daughter (10) just got a letter last week for the England trip--I know its no special thing that she got the letter but she seems very interested in it. She is going to Ireland (by herself) in the spring to visit some cousins so that other trip is not possible right now but in the future we will certainly consider it!

 

[powellrj]

My DD got a letter last week about going to Japan. We have gotten them over the years for all the kids, but this was the first time we had ever gotten a Japan one.