Parent Review: Don't like taking kids to bars as a cultural experience Past Review

Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc.

On-site administration of your program

As the parent of a child who did the Round River Osa summer program, I thought that the two onsite teachers that he happened to have, were great, and organized.

How satisfied were you with your living arrangements?

From what I understand, the accommodations were what were described; hostels and camping.

The food sounded like it was what would be expected in a camping environment.

How integrated did you feel with the local culture?

From the sounds of it, one of the primary cultural experiences was to go to bars. The were brought twice in the first ten days, including during their first full night in Costa Rica. As a parent, and an adult, this struck me as a rather risky activity with college students, but did not originally concern me as my son is not usually much of a drinker. I did wonder about how students who are trying to avoid alcohol environments dealt with this. Even if given the chance to bow out, they might not feel comfortable breaking with group activities.

How well were health issues addressed during the program?

I am giving this a two star rating because Round River was thorough with what was needed in advance. From what I can see, however, Round River staff may not be trained in certain situations that they should be, such as what to do in a case of possible alcohol toxicity, which is a possibility anytime that students are taken to bars.

The two teachers who led my son's group were great, but the organization's practice of bringing students to bars seemed risky at the time, and was proven to be. The second time that the group was brought to a bar, my son joined in with some of the group in drinking. He became so intoxicated that he could not walk, and was loaded into the back of a cab to go back to the campsite. We wonder if he was someone slipped a drug into his drink, as he should have been able to handle the alcohol as well as the rest of the group as he was the tallest, and also the next day, he still had problems walking and had lost fine motor skills, such as those needed to open a water bottle. We will never know, but if anything else, he should have had a constant monitoring for alcohol toxicity, which can be fatal, as he was exhibiting signs of this and they were in a remote jungle location. I was very disappointed and surprised that when I wrote to Round River after the fact to suggest that they cut the bar experience out of the curriculum, this was defended as a cultural experience that they would continue, although they would review some policies. It makes me sad that another situation such as this could happen under the auspices of a program-sanctioned "cultural activity".

As a parent, I saw some real strengths with the Round River Osa program, but am astounded that they take kids to bars as a cultural experience, and then do not seem to monitor them very closely. This seems like a recipe for disaster, and it nearly was for my son.

(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost)

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• Other
• Hostel

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• Americans
• Other

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• Americans

• The two teachers he had
• focus on learning material
• focus on appreciation of nature

• safety
• choice of cultural experiences
• training for alcohol toxicity if alcohol activities are part of the program