Posted on 09/07/2010 9:59:07 PM PDT by pillut48
My 9 y/o daughter got a letter from this organization, inviting her a "one-time-only opportunity to travel and study in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales in the summer of 2011."
Anyone ever heard of these people? Is this on the up and up?
Yes. My kids got the invitations, too. The cost is substantial. It’s probably a profitable enterprise.
I have heard of them, but thats about all. 9 seems a bit young to me for this sort of thing.
www.ptpi.org/
www.peopletopeople.com/AboutUs/Pages/OurHeritage.aspx
SNIPPET: “Our Heritage
The People to People movement dates back more than half a century to its founding by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. Eisenhower was acting on his firm belief that direct interaction between ordinary citizens around the world can promote cultural understanding and world peace. That proud legacy of hope lives on in People to People Ambassador Programs on seven continents.”
my dtr almost went to work for them and her best friend does work for them.....that’s all I know except I thought they worked with older kids.....
Does anyone know the ages of these child ambassador & how long do they stay away from home?
My son went to Europe for 21 days with the P2P last summer at age 11. I think it is very good program. It cost $6800 for his trip. The student ambassadors (as they are called) are encouraged to raise funds for at least part of their trip. My son received about $1500 in donations. As a group they do a lot of activities not available to the general public (my son met members of Parliament while in London).
If you can afford it, and you think your child can take the separation anxiety, it is definitely worth it.
I'm not sure if this group is even still around.
My daughter went to England, Ireland and Wales for 21 days while in High School. It was expensive and we weren’t very successful fund-raising, but it was the trip of a lifetime for her. The family stay portion is especially interesting, as the child stays with local families for a few days.
9 years old does seem a little young. I would suggest waiting a few more years. The invitations will keep coming. If you want to check it out, you should attend the first meeting. You won’t be obligated to anything to just see what they have to say.
Nine seems a little too young to fully appreciate the experience and to also stand her ground. You can be sure that there will be anti-American comments and socialism drummed into her. If she were older, she maybe wouldn’t be intimidated.
We get the invites every year. Our daughter just graduated from HS, so hers will stop coming. Our son is a junior so we still have 2 more invites to go.
It is very expensive. Our son just spent 3 weeks in Germany for $1400 plus $250 spending money on a school exchange. He went to parliament, got a Berlin tour, spent 2 days in Berlin with total freedom in groups of 3 or more, went to Cologne, a boat tour, hiking, canoeing, swimming, boating, and so much more.
The p2p exchanges don’t even come close, and cost a fortune.
I don’t know about this particular program, but I traveled extensively with a children’s choir when I was in my teens. However, my first big trip, 3 weeks to Europe when I was 12, was very difficult for me. I was horribly homesick, and while that may sound amusing to adults, I was truly miserable. (I did not have that problem on subsequent trips.) I would say that 9 is a little young to really grasp the magnitude of such a trip, and also unless she is really blase’ about traveling without mom & dad along, she would probably be at least anxious, if not really upset. I vote for waiting a couple of years.
Did your child recently open a bank account?
Iowa Attorney General (2006) - People to People Student Ambassador” Program Agrees to Modify Representations About How Students are “Selected” for International Travel
http://women.iowa.gov/latest_news/releases/june_2006/People_to_People.html
My kids also received the invites back when they were in high school. At the time the invite came and I called the phone number listed I asked how my daughter got chosen. I was told that teachers recommend students they think would be worthy ambassadors. It was very tempting and we even went to a information session, but in the end, we decided not to do it.
What I did do instead, when my youngest was in high school and the second oldest in college was put that same amount that one trip would’ve cost to a 3 week vacation for the 2 girls. I paid transportation and lodging, they raised their own funds for food and whatever they wanted to buy or do.
3 years apart and best friends since childhood, they traveled to England, Scotland and Ireland. Together we planned their visit - based on their interests. They stayed at hostels most of the time and traveled via bus, train bicycle, Ryanaire, and their own feet. They had a smashing good time and built memories they can share for the rest of their lives. Some of the places they went were London, Loch Ness, Killarney, Liverpool, Edinborough, Dublin, Limerick, Bath, Blackpool, oh they just had too much fun!
Like I said, they were much older than 9. Sadly, most of the adventures they and their brothers have been on and places they’ve visited in younger years, they have only vague recollections of.
My daughter traveled to the Soviet Union in the mid nineties with P2P. I was comforted by the fact that two teachers from her junior high school also went. She was gone for 21 days and enjoyed it very much. Her favorite part was the home stay with a local family in Moscow. She, still to this day, converses with Sveta.
a 9 year old can’t even board a plane alone here in the US
RIPOFF — They send flattering mailings about how your kid was selected because he’s so “special.” With our first kid, we bit. Invested an evening at a local presentation (sales pitch). Very slick, lost of videos of smiling kids. But they waited until the end to explain that the trip worth $3000 would cost $7000. I was just thankful we all agreed on the way home that it was a bunch of crap.
Then a few years later, members of my daughter’s choir got “selected” for a European trip. Also expensive, but several of her friends were going, so we let her go because she loves to sing. In the end, it became all about fooling around at various European locations with her local friends. I’ve been to Europe many times on my own, on the cheap, and my experiences were far richer than hers. In fact, I’m sorry she had her first taste of foreign travel under these conditions. She may as well have been at an amusement park.
I think these high school programs are mostly a bunch of money-making hooey. Wait till the kid is in college. It will be a better experience — not just a bunch of kids pretending they’re in a Disney Channel show.
My son went on 3 P2P trips. Each time there was about 6 months of prep time - learning about the different countries, their customs, what to expect, etc. He enjoyed each trip and still corresponds with his home stay families and fellow travelers.
One of our sons went to eastern Europe with People-to-People just in time to witness the fall of communism. His group was well prepared and very well chaperoned. They visited countries on both sides of the collapsing Iron Curtain. He vividly remembers staying in a “luxury” hotel in Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union) that had no functioning water system. The kids brushed their teeth with Coke. That trip was worth every dime and much more.
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