[Dancing Jane]

All of this blaming the chaperone seems a bit much. The girl was 18, legally an adult. Many 18 year-olds live on their own and even have families of their own. I left the country unchaperoned at 17 with a bunch of other 17 year-old girls with the full consent of our parents. We took care of ourselves and stayed out of strange men's hotel rooms.

Where is the anger at the person/people who killed this girl?

[Ichneumon]

All of this blaming the chaperone seems a bit much. The girl was 18, legally an adult. Many 18 year-olds live on their own and even have families of their own. I left the country unchaperoned at 17 with a bunch of other 17 year-old girls with the full consent of our parents. We took care of ourselves and stayed out of strange men's hotel rooms.

If the girl had made the trip on her own, or her parents trusted her to go on her own and take care of herself, I'd agree with you.

But from the sound of the "chaperone" arrangement, it seems as if someone (parents, college officials, etc.) put an older person in charge to watch over the three girls, and whether the girls were "adults" or not, that person had a responsibility to be, well, responsible for them.

If that's your "job", you should take it seriously and *do* it, not just accept the free trip and then let your charges run wild.

And for all we know the dead girl may have still been living at home with her parents while going to college, and having a chaperone was their requirement for allowing her to go on the trip ("my house, my rules", regardless of how old the offspring is).

Where is the anger at the person/people who killed this girl?

I'm not sure someone did "kill" her. It may have been some sort of accident on her part (drunken or otherwise).