My daughter is about to spend a month in Europe on a school sponsored trip. It is a real challenge for me to communicate the importance of being extremely careful in avoiding problems. Watch out for this and that... We live in such an insular naive world of TV reality ! It is absolutely essential to get American youth out into the world.
Yes. Many American youth are sheltered. My sister loved Japan as it was really safe. The only people you ever worried about were foreigners taking advantage of the lax atmosphere. Also, she went to Vietnam and Thailand and you didn't worry about the locals. You worried about the Europerverts on the beach. The one piece of advice I consistently follow is not to drink from strangers. Don't drink from an unattended open container,etc.etc.
Why?
I travelled in Europe alone a couple of times when young. Good thing to know the language(s). I was followed twice. Also good to always look at crosswalks. Someone saved my life that way.