Student communication with country of origin
From AFSWiki
While AFS expects that regular communication from home is a necessary part of living abroad, there are certain problem areas of which one should be aware. When appropriate, these issues should be discussed with the student and the host family. Following you will find the AFS Statement on Natural Family Contact, which is the statement we use to communicate with all of our participants who go abroad and those who come to be hosted in the United States.
It is important to keep in mind that these are guidelines, not “rules.” We cannot prohibit students and their families from contacting each other by phone or e-mail. However, we do hope that by continuing to educate families on the impact of too much communication, we can help them to understand why they themselves should set limits.
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AFS statement on natural family contact
Going abroad on an exchange is no reason you can’t stay in touch. Hearing news and sharing the experience is important. Periods of loneliness are common, and during those times communication from home may seem the best medicine. Unfamiliarity with a new country, culture, language, school, and family is a big part of it; and the only way to make it better is to work hard at adapting to it all. Below are some guidelines to help in effective communication during the exchange period so that the process of adaptation can proceed smoothly.
Telephone contact during the exchange period
Homesickness is a common problem for students if they and/or their families and friends call frequently. During telephone calls, students are powerfully reminded of their home culture, language, customs, and home activities at a time when they are feeling vulnerable in an unfamiliar environment. The sound of a loved one’s voice can cause sadness for hours or days, as students are constantly reminded of the distances and the differences with which they are challenged. This sadness adds to the difficulties of adaptation, as students are distracted from the task.
- AFS recommends that families and their students arrange frequency of calls before the exchange takes place. It is ideal to keep in weekly touch by mail and to make calls only on special occasions such as birthdays or special holidays such as Christmas. Calls of no more than once a month of about a half-hour in length would be the next best choice. Calls that occur more frequently are in danger of causing adaptation difficulties.
Email, Instant Messages, & Social Networking Websites
Although often viewed as a substitute for postal mail, e-mail is much more immediate, and rivals the telephone in that respect. In host countries and families where e-mail is common, students may have difficulty in deciding how much is enough. As with the telephone, students communicate in their native language and if e-mail and chat line communications are too frequent, students have similar adaptation concerns as with the telephone.
- AFS recommends that students send a general e-mail to family and friends once a week, making it more similar to a letter. Students should limit the amount of time that is spent writing e-mail as well; and AFS recommends one to one and a half-hours once a week.
Needed: More content regarding MySpace, et al.
Natural family visits
Learning and adaptation to the host country’s culture, language, school, friendships, and host family life provide the richness of the exchange experience. To give each student the best possible opportunity to take advantage of this successfully, AFS strongly discourages natural family visits. AFS understands that the disruption of this process from natural family visits during the exchange may become so severe that a student’s exchange program may be terminated early.
- AFS requires that natural families and friends who wish to visit during the exchange period receive permission from AFS in the host country prior to making plans for such a visit.
