Travelling Abroad?

I never had the chance to study abroad or anything like that when I was in school..
I did have the opportunity to travel to NYC (it was actually my first time on a plane) once, but that was about it.  I would have LOVED the chance to do something like that... You know, study abroad, do a "semester at sea" or anything like that... It would have been awesome... and you can not ignore the memories to be made.

I received an email that I just thought would be nice to share with you...
I don't really know much about the whole study abroad  (also, I see lots of mission trips going on right now with kids going to places around the world...)

Hope this might help you out:
I literally just copied and pasted this for you:

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Most Moms and Dads want to give their kids every opportunity, like youth travel or study abroad experiences with a program that can widen horizons. But are they aware that no federal or state laws protect their kids when they go overseas? 

The scary truth is there is no federal oversight, qualifications, minimum standards or public reporting in the $17 billion+ industry that takes our children abroad. Tragically kids are abused, abandoned and even killed on these trips, yet programs are not accountable for the bad things that happen. 

The good news is there are steps your readers can take to help keep American children safe on foreign soil. Sheryl Hill, founder of ClearCause™ Foundation, a non-profit organization with a mission to keep America’s students safe overseas, can offer helpful tips for evaluating travel abroad programs such as:

1.    Research the program in your state and the state the program operates out of before you sign up. Ask your state’s attorney general for complaints against the program; check the BBB rating for the program and the parent company operating the program; if it's with a University, ask for the Clery Act, Student Right to Know Security Policy and Crime Statistics on Campus; and perform an Internet search for the name of the program. If it won’t report the number of accidents, deaths, rapes, illnesses they’ve experienced – in entirety – don’t let them go.

2.   Purchase international healthcare, medical assistance, security and repatriation services from a reputable provider. It’s a relatively low cost investment to safeguard your loved one’s health and minimize security risks abroad.

3.   Be prepared for an emergency before you go. Check with the US Department of State for the US Embassy nearest where they’ll be staying. Have then keep their US Embassy consular’s name, address and phone number with them at all times. Also make sure they know how to dial emergency services abroad – it’s only 911 in the US.

***** This is not a paid/sponsored post, I just wanted to share with you. *****