International Exchange Safety Guide
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International Educational Travel and Youth Exchange Safety: A Guide for Consumers
This document was written and approved by a group of exchange organizations including AFS, People to People, EF and Intrax.
Document Text
International educational travel and exchange provide exciting and memorable opportunities for youth. Going abroad allows participants to experience firsthand what they study in the classroom through history, foreign languages, art, music and much more. In order to make informed choices and set appropriate expectations, participants and parents have a responsibility to conduct careful and thoughtful research on organizations, destinations and programs. This paper offers a few tips—especially for families with participants who are minors—on choosing the right exchange organization, and on preparing for a safe and meaningful experience.
Choosing an Organization
Overall, families should evaluate a travel/exchange organization on:
- A demonstrated capacity for providing high quality programs;
- Careful staff and volunteer selection and training processes;
- Clear and effective policies and procedures for participant safety.
Parents and participants should study the organization with respect to its history and experience, and can ask for references from past participants and parents—especially for a chosen destination. They should understand exactly what is included in the program fee, the payment and cancellation policies, and the insurance coverage. They should ask questions about representative and chaperone training, host family selection and matching, as well as emergency contacts and procedures.
Personal Health and Safety
Participants should be proactive about their own safety while on an exchange program, and take appropriate precautions. Due to the extreme importance of health and safety, participants need to understand and follow program providers’ rules for participant behavior while on program. All parties—participants, parents and providers—share the responsibility for safety and well-being while on program.
Getting Ready
Before departing, participants should review lodging/homestay information, participate in all available orientations, and study any written materials provided by the organization. These materials should cover personal safety, visa processes, program rules and regulations, acceptable and unacceptable behavior, cultural factors that may affect program success and/or participant safety, and other information that helps set appropriate expectations. If a participant has a medical condition that may impact his or her successful completion of the program, parents should discuss it with the organization and with their medical provider. Parents should have valid passports in the rare case they need to travel to attend to their child. Parents should register their child with the US Embassy through the State Department web site if the organization does not provide this service. A link to registration can be found at http://studentsabroad.state.gov/.
Room and Board
If living with a host family, participants and their parents should understand the selection, screening and orientation processes for host families, as well as procedures should the participant or host family need to notify the organization. If staying in other accommodation, such as a hotel or school dormitory, participants should ask about location, cleanliness, nutrition, security and supervision.
Organizational Support for Programs Abroad
Participants and their parents should understand the organization’s established infrastructure and procedures to handle any unforeseen problems. This might be a network of local organizational representatives in a homestay situation, or a reasonable number of chaperones who should be available at any time. Parents should know how to get in touch with an organizational representative at any time while their child is on the program, and should know under what types of circumstances the organization will contact them about issues involving their child.
Participant Emergency
Before participants depart, they should know how to reach emergency assistance in the event of an emergency or crisis. Parents and participants should understand exactly what the program’s health and accident insurance covers. All participants should obtain appropriate insurance for the entire duration of the program, including emergency evacuation and repatriation coverage, whether offered by the organization or purchased from a third party provider.
International Safety
Participants and parents should ask about and understand the program’s emergency response procedures to react to and manage any type of international crisis, including health emergencies, natural disaster, and political unrest. They should inquire about risk assessments of any country in which programs are offered, protocols for parent communication, procedures for participant safety, staff training on emergency response procedures as well as evacuation and program termination protocols.
Additional Resources:
- www.globaled.us/safeti
- www.studentsabroad.com
- www.travel.state.gov
- www.cdc.gov
- http://studentsabroad.state.gov/.
- www.syta.org
- www.bbb.com
- www.nafsa.org
- www.csiet.org
