People To People Student Ambassador Program Summer Camp Ground Negligence with an attitude

Both my sister and I have traveled with people to people. my sister took her first trip with them when she was 11. We both have been on multiple trips with the organiztions and both hve had great life changing experiences! I have been on three trips so far with people to people and leave for a fourth in 7 days.

Your son was not andomly choosen by a computer... someone had to nominate him. Usually it is a administator at his school, or friend who had traveled with the organization. If you did decide that he waned to go and had sibilings they don't have to be left out, they can sign up too. And the meetings are not a scam, I am someone who has traveled all over the world and earned college redits and service hours all while doing it. I also speak at those meetings. 

This is really a great organization and my parents feel safe when I travel with them. Not a scam, a great opportunity.

i went on a People to People trip to Australia when I was 17, in 2010. The trip was for two weeks and was amazing, but I am honestly shocked about all of the negative complaints and people thinking it is a scam, so I'm going to try to address the concerns that people have.

PRICE- people complain that the price is a "premium" or too expensive, and that you can plan a trip for yourself for much less. What? I completely disagree. Just the airfare to Australia is $2000+. also all of the hotels, dinners, and tickets to the excursions, and other transportation within Australia definitely add up. We went to five or so different cities, and I'm sure if you tried to plan a trip by yourself doing all the things that we did it would cost a ton more than $5000.

 

DELEGATION LEADERS- mine were great. I believe we had 3 leaders and 40 or so kids. Not all delegation leaders are as nice, as clearly stated in the comments, and I'm truly sorry that some people had rude leaders who refused to provide medical attention. luckily at the time I did not have any serious medical conditions that required any kind of special attention, but if I did, I would have probably been more cautious and considered what a trip to a different country or a hiking park would do for my condition. My advice would be to go to the meetings, meet the delegation leaders, and see if you like them. Trust your gut. If they seem standoffish or untrustworthy, maybe those leaders are not the ones for you. 

 

CALLING PARENTS- some of the complaints here suggested that the children were encouraged not to call parents or told they shouldn't. I think that is because calling parents may make children more homesick. However, my delegation leaders were certainly ok with us calling our parents, and I believe I emailed my mom several times because that was easier. In addition, my mom said the leaders gave them a link to a photo album where they posted pictures that they took of us that day, so our parents would be able to see what we were up to via the Internet. Parents were given the phone numbers of the delegation leaders, so they had contact with them at any time.

DECEPTIVE MARKETING PRACTICES - the main reason I went on the trip was because I have always wanted to go to Australia, specifically, and then the opportunity popped up. I don't think either me or my mom were too hung up in the fact that I was "selected", and if you look on their website, you can just enroll to go whether or not you were selected. They claim to add things to your college application, and People complain that it's not as prestigious as they make it sound. But the main reason I went was not for the prestige or community service. I went because I wanted to go to Australia. I did end up getting into a good university, but I'm sure that was not just because I was a People to People Ambassador, though I'm sure it didn't hurt having that on my application. I am sorry that some peoples dead children or cats have received a nomination, and I agree that is strance, but the fact that they got my name from somewhere random didn't bother me personally.

SAFETY/SUPERVISION- ok, I admit that I was 17, so i knew how to handle myself and not to go off into random places and get lost. I completely understand being concerned about sending a 12 or 14 year old.  I don't understand how parents expect the students to be supervised the entire time, 24/7. I was always in a group of students no matter where we were or what city we were in, and always felt safe. I knew not to sneak off and get lost. You need to be smart. 

LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE- this sounds cheesy, but i do think the experience was life-changing in a way for me. No I was not a completely different person when I came back, but based on some of the activities we did i think my view on life changed, as did my confidence. Throughout the trip I snorkeled, surfed, rappelled down a 200-foot cliff, broke a board with my hand, stayed with an Australian family for a few days, went to a dance with Australian students, and went to school with Australian students. Do you honestly not think those are unique experiences that will change the way your kid sees the world? I never in my life thought I would be able to rappel down a cliff. I was able to get experience living with strangers and traveling every day and exploring the world. 

 

Hopefully this his post was helpful to those considering going. My advice to parents is before you write P2P off completely, go to a meeting, meet the delegation leaders, and be sure that you trust them to lead your kid to another country. Make sure they have travelled with people many times before and seem like a responsible adult. Don't let responses from a website (most of then from people who never even went on a trip) be the reason you don't let your kid go On an amazing trip.

People to People Ambassador Program is a scam. They just want people's money. They make parents think that their children were chosen because of their achievements. One of my sons was kept back in high school every year until he was a 19 year old freshman because he failed every class every year.  He had to drop out and had to take Adult Ed to get his GED. I knew that there was no way he was nominated by anyone, like the letter said. Upon further research, I found that People to People takes the names of babies born in certain years and sends out mass mails to all of them when they become of high school age. Read the complaints. Children have died and gone missing on these trips. People to People even sent a letter to a dead cat. Don't give your money to these people. They are lying to parents and children making them think they were nominated because of their achievements. They weren't. It's all because they want your money.

Just wanted to quickly state that P2P programs travel students from grade 5 to grade 12, so thats why you recieved a letter. 

I was already highly skeptical of the program after the first letter I received last Summer for my son who was at that time just ten years old. I tend to doubt any unsolicited mailings of the kind anyway. But to receive a letter singing the praises of my exceptional son and proposing to send him overseas without a parent, and all this at the age of ten, when they claim the program is for middle and high school age students? This only makes it clear that they are not carefully selecting children based on some exhaustive screening process. First of all, the age. Here we have another letter and he's still only in 5th grade. Second, yes, he's intelligent. And we all want to believe our kids are exceptional. He is. He is also in special classes with other children who have behavioral problems due to Autism and ADHD related issues. Though he is gradually being mainstreamed into the regular curriculum, I find it hard to believe that an exclusive and selective program, or any program that has children taking long trips away from home, would in possession of all these facts choose to invite such a child. He's bright, sure, but he's impulsive, and he would do just about anything to keep from being bored. As a parent, I advise others considering this program to think about what a personality like that could do to their son's or daughter's life-changing experience, and to ask themselves how much worse it could be if this is how careful they are with their screening process.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500172_162-20078698.html

I am a parent of a child who just traveled with People To People Student Ambassador Group this summer 2012 and she loved it and had no problems what so ever. As a matter of fact she loved it so much she didn't want to come home. I am sorry for what your daughter experienced and I wasn't there so can't really comment on what happened but I do know my daughter had a great experience with this program and would go again in heartbeat.  Any one interested in this program should indeed check it out, I know so many kids that have went and loved it and it changed their life including my 17 year old. 

I am a former skip tracer (investigator) and am also familiar with this site.

I do not particularly trust this site and have no experience with the company being discussed here.

HOWEVER, I did receive the invitation and am considering sending my son on this trip.

As I am doing my investigation of the company and reviewing these posts I think readers should be aware of a few items.

!. the lawsuit that is referenced on this site is not written as if it were filed by an attorney and in fact there is NO filing stamp or even the court information on the supposed complaint. Also, there is no attached "service of process" which leads me to believe this is a draft that was never filed at all. Many people do this to scare businesses to provide refunds. I can't believe the complaint put a dollar amount on the death of this person. Most filings would have "damages to be determined at trial". As I looked closer I was quite curious to know what kind of attorney would file a document like this and did what you should do call the attorney listed at the bottom. AH the local phone is disconnected and the 877 number listed elsewhere leads you to a pay per call recording. This lawsuit doesn't appear to be credible. 

2. I've read about how much the company people make and that this is some type of bait and switch false invitation. We'll I called this company and was not pressured into anything. How much the principals make is no concern of mine if it were I would't do business with many of the companies I do business with because their executive make far more.

3. I understand the invite is marketing what fool wouldn't. But it's good marketing and I will go check out the company a bit more. 

For all the stories of unhappy kids and their inability to contact home. Let me tell you I am a helicopter parent and my son will have a cell phone with skype and face time on it so I WILL know where he is and with who at all times.

I will meet with other parents of kids going on the trip and stay in contact with them until my son returns and if I don't like the KIDS he will be going with he WON'T go. Like in school it's the kids that impact each other the most.

If I have a problem with P2P or a counselor I will be on a plane to Spokane and I WILL get answers. Something letters can't do.

I realize this sounds like I'm willing to throw money around with cell phones and flights to Spokane but MY KID is worth it.

I hope this trip is all its cracked up to be and my son gets a good group of kids to go with. Because as one post said its 16 kids to 1 counselor... so the kids banding together is key and isn't that the purpose of a trip like this?

Hopeful,

Todd

We received a letter today too.  Wikipedia carries the entire controversy.  PtP doesn't really have the recommendation of Presidents.  It's a travel service.  You must submit an application with personal information to be "chosen" before learning the cost (high) and that your child can sell items to the public and conduct fundraisers.  Of course young people find the experience "awesome, it's clear the travel service knows the ins and outs of obtaining bargain accommodations, etc.

Too many misrepresentations and unanswered questions from this profit-making entity.  Their profits over the last several years are unbelievable--reported to be over a hundred million dollars.  Use the several thousand dollars and take a family trip.  Or send your child to one of the many special interest camps for several hundred dollars.

As a commenter posted "names are chosen off a list of people with enough money to pay for the trip". Where did you get that idea?o: I am going on a trip with people to people this summer and my family on a normal daily basis would not, an any way would have the money for the trip and its recession time -.- in the U.S.

Also people who know you "choose" to give your name. One of my teachers did it for me ^.^.

Something else I see on these comments was the 12 : 1 ratio. If you go out the country more than 5 counslers are put to one student. (speaking of which)

When I had school field trips it even came up to the 20 :1 ratio :| (Think of elementry the whole grade goes)

Now for replying to the report^^. How was your daughter having a "good time?" You said she twisted her knee..unless she had already lost feeling she would feel pain at every moment...not fun. I've seen people get hurt at school that..they scream not say "I'm having good time?" What the heck?...

Also if a counslers tells someone to "shut up" and grabs you ...think what did you teach your daughter to do? what maybe she should have tried:(?)Tell them to leave you alone,ignore them -_-.

"elevations over 6000ft" (?.?) When you go to the meetings with your group they tell you MANY times that you will be going hiking high up on mountains and such. Did you miss the first (part) of themeeting??? D:

"this is the reason we don't like them calling their parents" >.> really now?

We're told and explained to that you may call your parent at any given time.Heck you could talk to them every night if you wanted! D: Sometimes they even want you to call your parents(to go with that parents may call the kids at mostly any time)

"LOST her" Don't blame others for your daughter(my opinion,sorry ^^; )

They didn't lose anyone ..your daughter got lost..wandering away from the group maybe? and even not paying attention like she should have could have caused that that's certainly not people to people's fault.

(note from me: getting recomendations are not hard to get..the interview is just a casual chat anda few verbal answers to situations you might find on your trip)

(again this is just my opinion..but people to people is a great thing and isn't a scam)

http://static.cbslocal.com/station/wcco/news/local/08_0128_wrongful_death_lawsuit_tylerhill_exchangeprogram.pdf

The above link is the actual court documents for a wrongful death lawsuit there the plaintiffs came out with a settlement in their favor. From what I read in the complaint and an article regarding the situation that the lawsuit is based off of, this womans complaints are very valid. I personally just received a letter in the mail for my daughter from this company, and decided to do some internet homework on the company before going to the informational meeting, and I can say I am very glad to know about this lawsuit. From what Consumer Affairs has written about this company and their practices, the comments that followed this womans complaint seem like company propaganda not actual statements.

Articles pertaining to the Tyler Hill wrongful death lawsuit and the incidents leading up to it:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/01/p2p_hill.html

(((Redacted)))

Consumer Affairs page on People to People Student Ambassador Program:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/people_to_people.html

Mind you this Consumer Affairs complaint forum on People to People starts off with a complaint by a former Leader. And also claims the student ratio is 12 students to 1 teacher, on a class trip for the day most schools have more than that with parent volunteers the ratio is approximately 6 students to 1 adult.

CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

I hope this is a simple question but; Sandy (or People to People): where do you get the names of kids, together with addresses for those who you send out "congratulatory" letters to?

I see that we have an outstanding list of reports listed about People to People. Although this original post was dated back in 2000, we understand may families may have questions about our organization and our safety practices. For these reasons we have many resources that we work with directly, these include:

World Health Organization , U.S. Centers for Disease Control , National Transportation Safety Board , Docleaf - International Safety Organization , Transportation Security Administration , U.S. State Department , Federal Aviation Administration

Along with these resources our Senior Director of Health & Safety Michael J. Bowers joined People to People Ambassador Programs in 2008 and currently we are the only educational travel organization to employ a full-time director of travel health and safety in the country.

If you would like to learn more about People to People and our safety practices or if indeed the information in any other reports is true please visit www.peopletopeople.com/safety or www.peopletopeople.com/factvsfiction

You can also email me directly at social@peopletopeople.com if you would like us to contact you directly! Thank you again for all of the amazing feedback!

Sandy

Social Media Representative - People to People

One commenter wrote:

"So it is agreeable that the only trustworthy people who make comments are those who are actually bashing P2P since no one would bash their own company."

I'm sure you didn't think of this, but competing companies would bash them all day long. How do you know that the negative reports and comments aren't by competing companies? You don't.

What a paranoid viewpoint to have and it's a shame that you missed out on a wonderful opportunity.

I'm sorry that the person who filed the original report had such a terrible experience, but everyone else with whom I've spoken who went on this trip had the time of their lives. I remember passing the interview and working my butt off all summer (I was in 7th grade) to earn the money for this trip. The prospect of flying out to California to go hiking and camping was incredibly exciting to me and I was definitely not disappointed by the experience.

I made many new friends, learned a lot, and had an opportunity many people will never have. The trip was both extremely fun and extremely educational.

I'm surprised that you had an experience with the leaders being rude to your daughter and them allegedly telling her to shut up. The leaders were extremely polite in every encounter I had with them and I didn't see anything less than stellar treatment of other students either.

In fact, on this trip I had a number of medical issues: my first panic attack (and boy was it bad), severe tinnitus, altitude sickness, etc. The adults supervising me took each of these very seriously and were incredibly helpful. There wasn't a single moment that I didn't feel like I was in good hands.

Now, I could be wrong, but I feel like some of the facts in the original report may be exaggerated and that there may be a slight case of overreaction.

I have no stake in People to People or their success, but I had such a great time with this experience (as did *everyone* else I encountered, and it wasn't a large group) that I felt compelled to sign up and share my side of the story.

I was a Student Ambassador 6 years ago and it was by far the smartest decision my parents and I have ever made. It hurts to see so many negative comments about a program that has taught so many kids about kindness, love, and humility.  It doesnt matter what job you work, program youre apart of, school you attend, or brand of clothing you wear; there will always be negatives associated with it. When you become an Ambassador, you become part of a family. A family that guides you, teaches you, and helps mold you into the person you will become. I have read several comments that call us Ambassadors Spoiled Brats or the program itself a scam, con waste of money and time etc. I can assure you, this program is not a scam and the kids who share the honor of calling themselves student ambassadors, as a whole, are not brats. Not even close. Perhaps many of the former students act so immature to many of the negative posts because you are attacking our family. Sounds weird to hear/read if you havent experienced something like this before, but yes, we really become a family. It doesnt matter what religion, race, or sex you are, its hard to not act out of anger if someone attacks a family member, is it not? Granted, these ambassadors could have responded in greater fashion. For those of you constantly bashing the program, I would encourage you to stop. Im sure your views will hardly change, especially if you havent given the program a chance yourself, but you are sinking yourself down to the level of the people you are arguing with. Be man/woman enough to not feel the need to respond to every negative comment made on your post, or feel like you have to give an excuse for how you responded. Maybe joining the Student Ambassadors isnt for you or your child, but be respectful to those that have enjoyed it, and dont go around screaming scam every few months. With that being said, I would like to ask my family and fellow Ambassadors to not respond in such a negative manner and to speak about your experiences and how its changed your life for the better (or worse if thats how you feel) but do it with honor and class. I will forever support People to People and their programs and encourage you all to do some research with a fresh undeterred mind to see if the program is right for you or your child.

Best wishes

Hello Troy!

Im afraid this is a VERY late reply but I think I may be excused due to personal reasons!

However, I would like to thank you in noticing how well I replied to each negative response. However you failed to notice that I also replied to and thanked the posters who were in favor of P2P and replied politely. Curious!

You wondered about my personal experience regarding P2P and silly me, I guess I just assumed (we all know about assuming!) that if one were interested in a certain company, especially considering the site were on,  one would have done a search regarding that company. If said search were done, you would have noticed my own post regarding P2P.

That being said, I can be a tad crass at times and get very frustrated when people simply refuse to see the facts that are right in front of them regarding this travel agency. I sincerely request that anyone who is interested in this program to please do your research and ask yourself at least this question: Would I want to send my child with people who lie to me about their company?

I went to Australia in 2003 when I was 16 years old.  I do not come from a wealthy family and most of my costs were covered by family gifts or donations from the community.  My mom is pretty good at fund raising and we went on the radio, held car washes, and went door to door with local businesses.  It was around $5,000.00 for the initial costs.  Additional costs included luggage (which I still use), clothes, travel products like shampoo and feminine products, passports, phone cards and of course spending money. 

My trip was amazing!  BUT there were things that happened that probably shouldn't have.  Were they things that you can completely blame on the program...no.  The age limits for things are different in other countries.  Several people got piercings and drank.  They did it without the knowledge of leaders and those that were found out, got wrote up.  I even got wrote up for dyeing my hair.  My mother wouldn't care, but each student signs a form saying that you promise to not do anything that will result in you coming home any different that you left.  I wanted to get my navel pierced or get a tattoo, but my father would have killed me.  I knew what I should and shouldn't do.  I didn't go in middle school, but as high school kids we were expected to be able to behave if they gave us free time.  You don't get much on these trips.  You have a packed itinerary. You are traveling and sleeping and doing activities.  I got to climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge, ride in a hot air balloon, and snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef!!  How many people my age can say that?!  Students are supposed to write in a journal every day and you have to turn them in at the end of the trip to get community service hours.  It's an experience.  It may not be life changing and it may not even be fun for some people, but it's an experience worth attempting.  It's similar to going away for college....some people love it and some people hate it, but do you really want to look back and think "what if"?  My mom busted her butt to get me over there for that simple reason.  She didn't want me to regret not having made the trip.

I'm sorry that your daughter didn't have fun and that she got her.  I'm sorry that some of you think it's a scam and not worth the money. I'm sorry that some of the leaders we rude, mean, and unprofessional. BUT, your children are going to learn one way or the other that those things happen.  People are rude. People are mean.  Sometimes you get hurt.  The thing she's going to have to learn for herself is how to deal with those things.  I learned a lot about myself being gone for 3 weeks without my parents.  I learned how to make friends and the type of people I wanted to hang out with. I learned about handling my extra money.  I learned how to say no to things and to people.  It is a great opportunity for children to experience the world and to learn about themselves.  Things go bad sometimes and that is an unfortunate lesson to learn, but as people get older they will learn it one or another. 

For those who think the program is a scam.  Yes, the meetings are boring and trivial.  BUT they want the parents and students to get to know one another before shipping the kids across the country or world.  I'm shy, so having my mom there helped me get comfortable with the new people without being all alone.  It made it easier to sit by people on the plane, ride on the bus, and room with them.  As for the cost, it is expensive.  There were many times while we were that my mom told me, "Honey, I'm gonna do my best, but we may not be able to work it out.  I can only do my best."  What I can tell you is that there is no way I could have seen everything I did by myself on $5,000.00.  I was there for three weeks.  Doing a quick search, flight and hotel on the cheap end for 3 weeks will be around $3,200.00. Then you have the tours and such.  The Sydney Bridge climb is around $300.  The snorkeling is around $100.  Not to mention travel between all the cities and food.  It's actually a great value and your child gets to meet government officials and such. For me and the people I was with, it was a great experience worth the time and money :)

Hmm...I have also gotten a letter for trips to Europe next year. I was pretty excited, but the cost is really expensive.

And after reading all the posts, I'm not going. Not even to the meeting.

The cases with negligence concerns me...and the fact that they mail these letters to dead kids, out of high school people, and pets...

This company wasn't even founded by Eisenhower...

So thanks for the report.

This is definitely a scam. My dad just received a letter informing him that I (his son) have been offered the opportunity to see Europe (England, France, Belgium, and The Netherlands). Aside from the fact that the letter was sent to my grandparents house in Ohio, there's two of other things that are weird about this.

First of all; I already live in the Netherlands, and have lived there since I was 7 years old. I've never been in the American school system, so there's no one who could have put me forward for this "program". The only way p2p could have gotten my name is through a football (read: soccer) camp I attended at UC a few summers ago.

The second indicator that this is a scam: I graduated from High School 5 years ago, got my bachelor degree last year, and am currently busy w/ my master. It might just be me, but I don't think a 22-year old should be attending a program attended for High-School students...I don't think that we would have the same interests.

Based on a little (read: extensive) article reading, p2p seems more like a holiday package organization. Offering parents an overpriced package for their kids, while offering poor supervision. Why not look for a certified touring organization that does know what they are doing ;).

By the way, its all to obvious that all these "pro p2p" posts on this site have been written by the p2p marketing team....

Ironically, my mother and I were in the car the other day and she asked me what I wanted to for my birthday. I said a laptop in a playful voice and then my mother got quiet as I added back, Just kidding.

See, my family is a little tight on a "spending" issues and I know (ironically) by my age how to distinguish the meanings of a want from a need. She looked at me after and said, No, you weren't kidding, were you? I laughed and said, It'd be a nice thing to have but I actually really want to travel. After getting done with shopping she finally brought up this People to People Student Ambassador Programs letter up that I actually got on the 9th of June. This was actually not the first time I've gotten this opportunity and really, how many times do these kinds of opportunities come up, right? I was actually really happy because I had missed out on my first chance

My mom said to look into the letter and that we'd discuss it later if I could really go or not And as any eager kid would do to take up this experience (especially one as eager as I), I pulled out all the solid facts that I could possibly get to convince my parents. Finally, after undergoing the usual parental question system (where are they taking you, when is it, what's it for, how does this benefit you, etc.) I was already on the brink of decision time. It seemed at this point that my parents were going to send me in the summer of 2010. Until

The next day, my mom brings this back up. She tells me about this rip-off website or whatever and that people are being ripped off from this program that's supposedly legit. Personally, I think it's probably the parental thing to do' to keep your child back because they feel just because one kid dies, mine will too.' And honestly, I think it's really, actually, completely unfair. Yes there is a possibility that your child will die. But then again, we could die any day for all we know. Who are we to judge the day of death? As people or even human beings for this matter, yes we must live under certain circumstances that prevents' us from future harm, but also, to not forget that tomorrow is never promised either so why cant we just live it out? I'm sure if I were to die tomorrow, my parents would've thought twice about sending me to this trip I know every kid's parents wants to see them happy and that this topic is surely not one sided. But the ending decision to this is obviously clear and it's to see us (the kids) happy. And most importantly, safe.

Because of the death of this child (deepest sympathies may I add) is actually every parent's fear: is losing their child'. Since day one, our parents have stood by us. They never asked for anything in return but just the hopes that just maybe, they'll see us grow up to be mature and successfully happy people. I'm not a parent, but I've been around my parents long enough to understand them and I think I say this for all parents when I say this. But when you have kids, the ultimate goals for them are only so few and that's:

One, seeing them succeed and
Two, to give them everything you never had being a kid growing up.

I've seen so much sacrifice in my house and just in the eyes of my own family members since I was born and just lately, within the past 4-5 years of my life. And I can honestly say that to all those kids out there who really wanted to go on this trip, life isn't over for us yet. So please don't be upset I'm sure if not with this trip, it'll be waiting for us later. If we can just work hard and be diligent people, I'm sure all these things will come later. Honestly, I'll restate this fact: I'm upset that I cant go to this trip anymore because of the things posted earlier on this site that my mom previously found but I think I'll have more important things to do here, at home more than anything else. Why? Because I'm sure if I were meant to go, I'd already have been on my way.

All in all, parents, it's really up to you because well, you support the trip financially and if you think you're going to have to pay for this trip emotionally or suffer a physical loss, then don't do it but that doesn't mean you don't listen to what your kids have to say about it. Because honestly, without you guys, this trip isn't possible :/

For the kids, I guess, just chill. We supposedly have like 54165321852 years to think about it anyways. No rush right? I guess even though our objectives were to get out and travel/experience life while we're young, I guess life will just have to wait on the traveling for just a few more years. I'm sure we're not the only ones bitter about this traveling/learning experience, but our parents are too. Them having to put up with our emo attitudes about the trip and all only cause they really do wanna see us happy. It really doesn't make it any easier for both sides. And if we can just learn how to cope with this, then maybe we wouldn't be so mad

If it's anything I learned from family, its sacrifice and respect. And in my situation, I guess it's just another daily duty that needs to be met and another thing, I respect that my parents did' put my best interest in it. So I'm not just some brat' who decided to file a complaint'. I don't mean to sound like a goody-goody two shoes but knowing how I am with my parents, I don't expect' anything in return for doing a good duty (because that's how I was raised.) I was raised to do things unconditionally for the personal purpose of doing it, not for the interest in reward.

But anyways, (this was getting way too long) lets all just not make this any bigger of a deal than it already is if you go, you go. If you don't, you don't. Life goes on and we just have to roll with the punches. Life isn't fair and you don't have to be an adult' to figure that one out.

Its just the intent in the hopes that we genuinely have that can carry us any further than the starting line.

Spoiled brats??
i don't think anyone, should call anybody spoiled brats!
when you type you do not know context, tone, or state of mind.
so please.
don't call people spoiled brats!
and when you say that kids are being mean.
don't bring yourself down and your comment that could be constructive down with you,
by using the term spoiled brats!
when i was in china i saw little kids hurting, starving, begging for change on the side of the road in the square!
The experiences of people to people did nothing for me BUT to help me in my future and to help me learn about our world today!
when you see a small hut in fiji people not living with a solid food source,,, that is when you can call people spoiled brats for what we take for granted...
but it is not okay to call people spoiled brats, if anything,
someone who can not suck up an injury, or needs to call her mom to come get her from a little harshness, rudeness has been sheltered, not spoiled, but sheltered.
i again state that people to people is an amazing oppurtunity,
also 2000 to 2009 so many advancements have been made, we are in the twenty first century!
please don't NOT send your children,
yes it is expensive, but the long term reward is much greeter,
and please don't comment on the page if you have no direct contact with the people to people program,
even if you think you do, you may truely not.

enjoy 2009 live it to the fullest,,, and never look back.

My experience with People to People was excellent. I had sent my daughter to one of their overseas trips for two weeks, she was 12 at the time (she is now 20). It was the best thing I did for her. She had a wonderful time, was able to call me whenever she wanted, made great friends and to this day has fond memories of the whole experience. I have dealt with the leaders who have always been courteous and respectful to me and my daughter. As a matter of fact when she was on her trip in Scotland, she had a minor problem, and the leader called me herself and we spoke, then they let me speak with my daughter and the problem was resolved quickly and with a very good outcome. So I'm sorry that your experience as so bad, maybe it was just those leaders, but I highly recommend to anyone, if you can afford to do this and send your child, please do, it is worth it.

Interesting to read the quite nasty rebuttals from children that supposedly were in the P2P program. If they truly are from P2P participants, then their posts indicate that they haven't learned how to politely communicate their ideas.

So the big question is, ***would you like your kids hanging out with brats like this?***

The reality is that this is a for profit program run by a publicly traded company: Ambassadors Group in Spokane, WA http://hoovers.com/ambassadors-group/--ID__105865--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml

Annual sales revenue of $114,500,000 in 2007 with 272 employees. 2007 EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) was $44.3M and a gross profit margin of 83.9%.

They have teachers as "advisors" who either travel free or at reduced cost, subsidized by the students. Parents will recognize that there are poor teachers and great teachers with the majority in between. This parent experienced a teacher who probably isn't very good, hence the rotten communications and poor attitude. She is relaying her experience. It reflects on the P2P program and if the corporate folks don't get directly involved, it will negatively affect their abillity to sell these travel packages. I've personally heard from local advisors that "the Program Office" manages almost everything and they have no responsibility. On the other hand, when speaking with Ambassadors Group, they claim that they have little to no control over the local Advisors group. It's a situation where clearly no one wants to accept responsibility. That's a huge RED FLAG to me.

RipOff Reports takes its role seriously, I am sure that they are looking at the IP addresses of these posters to see if they are posting from Ambassadors Group. So I'll lean toward these nasty posts as coming from spoiled brats that haven't actually learned to interact with the world outside of their neighborhood.

I actually went on one of these trips to australia for two weeks when I was twelve years old. It was great! We had so much fun and everything was safe. I was nominated, because I actually was in contact with the teacher who helped nominate me.
sure it was pricey,
its a all inclusive trip to australia--- including snorkling on the great barrier reef.
what do you expect?


plus... kids are going to get hurt. but would you expect a shaparone to stop all activities for almost 80 kids just because 1 kid hurt their knee?
i guess you could put em in a plastic bubble. That would solve it.

It was a great experience and I would recommend it to anyone who had the chance to go.

I find it really wrong, that so many people on here are so against the program. It is so RARE that students have a bad trip. A day doesn't go by where I don't want to be back in Europe with my friends who I consider my family. People to People was the most life changing experience I ever had. It changed me so much. I gained confidence I thought I didn't have before, I am more respectful from visiting the Normandy Memorials in France. I have gained awareness of the world. Over all I am a better person, I am more mature, my parents noticed the difference when I got home, that was after I got out of trip withdraws from missing everyone the second I got home, haha. I had a experience I would never have on a normal trip, I got to have a homestay, I got to spend the night at Warwick Castle, I got to go sailing at a academy, I got to have a art lesson with a French artist. People to People isn't a vacation, it is a experience.

I feel so bad for the person saying that there parents won't let them travel because of the people on here. That sucks! The number of people who enjoyed there trip with p2p overrides the number of people against it. I know people from all over the US who have traveled with p2p, and had a experience they wish they could live over and over again. Just stop taking away the opportunities for people wanting to travel. I get so angry with the people who are changing the minds of people to not let their child travel. It is wrong, if a student has a 95% chance of having a good trip, than let them go! The leaders are awesome, the trips are awesome, the students are awesome, the local leader is awesome, the program is awesome. I am traveling for my second year this summer to Australia, and I will be traveling in 10' for my third trip probably to Japan or China, maybe I will even go to Antarctica with the Alumni Trip.

I find it really wrong, that so many people on here are so against the program. It is so RARE that students have a bad trip. A day doesn't go by where I don't want to be back in Europe with my friends who I consider my family. People to People was the most life changing experience I ever had. It changed me so much. I gained confidence I thought I didn't have before, I am more respectful from visiting the Normandy Memorials in France. I have gained awareness of the world. Over all I am a better person, I am more mature, my parents noticed the difference when I got home, that was after I got out of trip withdraws from missing everyone the second I got home, haha. I had a experience I would never have on a normal trip, I got to have a homestay, I got to spend the night at Warwick Castle, I got to go sailing at a academy, I got to have a art lesson with a French artist. People to People isn't a vacation, it is a experience.

I feel so bad for the person saying that there parents won't let them travel because of the people on here. That sucks! The number of people who enjoyed there trip with p2p overrides the number of people against it. I know people from all over the US who have traveled with p2p, and had a experience they wish they could live over and over again. Just stop taking away the opportunities for people wanting to travel. I get so angry with the people who are changing the minds of people to not let their child travel. It is wrong, if a student has a 95% chance of having a good trip, than let them go! The leaders are awesome, the trips are awesome, the students are awesome, the local leader is awesome, the program is awesome. I am traveling for my second year this summer to Australia, and I will be traveling in 10' for my third trip probably to Japan or China, maybe I will even go to Antarctica with the Alumni Trip.

I find it really wrong, that so many people on here are so against the program. It is so RARE that students have a bad trip. A day doesn't go by where I don't want to be back in Europe with my friends who I consider my family. People to People was the most life changing experience I ever had. It changed me so much. I gained confidence I thought I didn't have before, I am more respectful from visiting the Normandy Memorials in France. I have gained awareness of the world. Over all I am a better person, I am more mature, my parents noticed the difference when I got home, that was after I got out of trip withdraws from missing everyone the second I got home, haha. I had a experience I would never have on a normal trip, I got to have a homestay, I got to spend the night at Warwick Castle, I got to go sailing at a academy, I got to have a art lesson with a French artist. People to People isn't a vacation, it is a experience.

I feel so bad for the person saying that there parents won't let them travel because of the people on here. That sucks! The number of people who enjoyed there trip with p2p overrides the number of people against it. I know people from all over the US who have traveled with p2p, and had a experience they wish they could live over and over again. Just stop taking away the opportunities for people wanting to travel. I get so angry with the people who are changing the minds of people to not let their child travel. It is wrong, if a student has a 95% chance of having a good trip, than let them go! The leaders are awesome, the trips are awesome, the students are awesome, the local leader is awesome, the program is awesome. I am traveling for my second year this summer to Australia, and I will be traveling in 10' for my third trip probably to Japan or China, maybe I will even go to Antarctica with the Alumni Trip.

First of all.
there has to be two sides of the story.
your daughter may be two faced and lie to you and be a major pain in the rear end with all her complaining.
You have no idea what is really going on.

Second.
This was an in-country travel!!
Their intercontinental trips are totally different and set up different.

Third.
Me- i've been on P2P trips for 4 years now, my brother 2....
i'm pretty sure if anything would happen in this total of five individual trips ((my brother and i traveled to China with P2P)) if anything was truly wrong it would have came up!!
your little situation shindig that was 2000!!!!!
get your head out of the past and look to the future!
things have changed.
it is safer now, it was even safer then!!

Fourth.
saying your daughter took the wrong turn....

yeah whole situation would have been avoided if your daughter would've went on the path which was probably there in the NATIONAL park.


Fifth.
don't say your daughter isn't emotional and then say now she is seeing a psychiatrist.
that so called "braVe" girl needs to pick it up and get over it!!
haven't we all been a little lost somewhere sometimes!?!?
i know i have.

People to People is a very absolutely awesome program that i strongly recommend...
though the prices are now well into the 7000 ((international))
it is so worth it and your young person truly grows from the experience.
Dwight D. Eisenhower had a vision for this program, peace through understanding, and it shows the great impact on our world and young people around the world.....

if anyone does have a problem with them it is not worth saying that they whole program and the whole idea of the trips is off set.
YOU didn't make the mistake by sending your child to the park.
I'm sure she still enjoyed SOMETHING out of the trip!!
though there can be a bad batch of supervisors and leaders, it does not reflect on the whole program though they should be on their best behavior, and shame on them, but not shame on people to people.

From a four time traveler soon to be five ((japan 09)) i believe your stuck in the past view of this amazing People to People program is wrong. I do not believe that anyone should be discouraged to include their student in the program.

P.S. Do not be afraid of all the bad reports!! So many delegations from so many states go out with people to people every summer and winter and there is this trickle of random stories of disapproval (( a delegation can be close to 40 kids!!!))

I send your child.
you'll see the great influence!

Thankyou Penny for your public service of indicating how your daughter fared on one of AGI's programs. I have been bombarded with thier mailings for several years now for both of my grade school children. The school teacher who sponsored them told me she would do so with my permission and I agreed. I have always had a bad feeling about this organization since I learned that the program administration has been delegated to a seperate corporation called AGI that is operated for profit. Why should thier be a profit motive in fullfilling the goals of this program as originally outlined by President Dwight D. Eisenhower? This really makes me suspicious and may in fact explain why the best able and most competant leaders are not being secured to be responsible for the young people in the programs abroad and domestically. I think we all know how hard it is to attract and get the best people for such a job and being constrained with a profit motive intent in doing this job I suspect you will end up with the least common denominator job fullfillment.

This is troubling and I do not for one minute believe all the glowing compliments that are on this website for the People to People Student Ambassador Program. They almost seem like they were specifically loaded and called for by the program itself as a means of damage control.

As Penny has stated be very wary of this organization and consider with most due dilligence all aspects of entrusting your child to one of their programs. After attending an initial meeting regarding my daughter and being armed with information about AGI's for profit status I have decided not to trust the program as it now exists and my children will not be participating. I believe the good founding intentions of this program have been distorted along the way for someone to make a buck rather than pure and good intentions of this program being allowed to flourish unhampered. Until this current setup changes I am uninterested in the program. I will so inform my daughter's teacher as I believe she may never have considered these matters about the organization and perhaps I can cause her to not sponsor future children.

Thankyou Penny for your public service of indicating how your daughter fared on one of AGI's programs. I have been bombarded with thier mailings for several years now for both of my grade school children. The school teacher who sponsored them told me she would do so with my permission and I agreed. I have always had a bad feeling about this organization since I learned that the program administration has been delegated to a seperate corporation called AGI that is operated for profit. Why should thier be a profit motive in fullfilling the goals of this program as originally outlined by President Dwight D. Eisenhower? This really makes me suspicious and may in fact explain why the best able and most competant leaders are not being secured to be responsible for the young people in the programs abroad and domestically. I think we all know how hard it is to attract and get the best people for such a job and being constrained with a profit motive intent in doing this job I suspect you will end up with the least common denominator job fullfillment.

This is troubling and I do not for one minute believe all the glowing compliments that are on this website for the People to People Student Ambassador Program. They almost seem like they were specifically loaded and called for by the program itself as a means of damage control.

As Penny has stated be very wary of this organization and consider with most due dilligence all aspects of entrusting your child to one of their programs. After attending an initial meeting regarding my daughter and being armed with information about AGI's for profit status I have decided not to trust the program as it now exists and my children will not be participating. I believe the good founding intentions of this program have been distorted along the way for someone to make a buck rather than pure and good intentions of this program being allowed to flourish unhampered. Until this current setup changes I am uninterested in the program. I will so inform my daughter's teacher as I believe she may never have considered these matters about the organization and perhaps I can cause her to not sponsor future children.

Thankyou Penny for your public service of indicating how your daughter fared on one of AGI's programs. I have been bombarded with thier mailings for several years now for both of my grade school children. The school teacher who sponsored them told me she would do so with my permission and I agreed. I have always had a bad feeling about this organization since I learned that the program administration has been delegated to a seperate corporation called AGI that is operated for profit. Why should thier be a profit motive in fullfilling the goals of this program as originally outlined by President Dwight D. Eisenhower? This really makes me suspicious and may in fact explain why the best able and most competant leaders are not being secured to be responsible for the young people in the programs abroad and domestically. I think we all know how hard it is to attract and get the best people for such a job and being constrained with a profit motive intent in doing this job I suspect you will end up with the least common denominator job fullfillment.

This is troubling and I do not for one minute believe all the glowing compliments that are on this website for the People to People Student Ambassador Program. They almost seem like they were specifically loaded and called for by the program itself as a means of damage control.

As Penny has stated be very wary of this organization and consider with most due dilligence all aspects of entrusting your child to one of their programs. After attending an initial meeting regarding my daughter and being armed with information about AGI's for profit status I have decided not to trust the program as it now exists and my children will not be participating. I believe the good founding intentions of this program have been distorted along the way for someone to make a buck rather than pure and good intentions of this program being allowed to flourish unhampered. Until this current setup changes I am uninterested in the program. I will so inform my daughter's teacher as I believe she may never have considered these matters about the organization and perhaps I can cause her to not sponsor future children.

Thankyou Penny for your public service of indicating how your daughter fared on one of AGI's programs. I have been bombarded with thier mailings for several years now for both of my grade school children. The school teacher who sponsored them told me she would do so with my permission and I agreed. I have always had a bad feeling about this organization since I learned that the program administration has been delegated to a seperate corporation called AGI that is operated for profit. Why should thier be a profit motive in fullfilling the goals of this program as originally outlined by President Dwight D. Eisenhower? This really makes me suspicious and may in fact explain why the best able and most competant leaders are not being secured to be responsible for the young people in the programs abroad and domestically. I think we all know how hard it is to attract and get the best people for such a job and being constrained with a profit motive intent in doing this job I suspect you will end up with the least common denominator job fullfillment.

This is troubling and I do not for one minute believe all the glowing compliments that are on this website for the People to People Student Ambassador Program. They almost seem like they were specifically loaded and called for by the program itself as a means of damage control.

As Penny has stated be very wary of this organization and consider with most due dilligence all aspects of entrusting your child to one of their programs. After attending an initial meeting regarding my daughter and being armed with information about AGI's for profit status I have decided not to trust the program as it now exists and my children will not be participating. I believe the good founding intentions of this program have been distorted along the way for someone to make a buck rather than pure and good intentions of this program being allowed to flourish unhampered. Until this current setup changes I am uninterested in the program. I will so inform my daughter's teacher as I believe she may never have considered these matters about the organization and perhaps I can cause her to not sponsor future children.

When it comes to the safety of your children, YOU must do the research. Make your own decisions, you cannot listen to the post of a stranger, regardless of their intentions. There are too many variables here to know who is telling the truth, and who is instigating drama. I suspect that both aspects are occurring on both sides of the wall, just as both sides also offer sincere responses.

I am heavily considering sending my child next summer on a People to People excursion. Last week we attended the annual local meeting for the third year in a row. In the past we were concerned that our daughter was not ready, and were concerned about the cost (Mostly, we were not ready to send our oldest outside of the county, without her parents).

I noticed a difference at this year's meeting to the previous meetings. It was mentioned that anyone could be nominated, not just a select few. Yes, there is some hype, but enthusiasm can be genuine, and the majority of it is American patriotism. You have to be able to recognize the difference, to make up your mind. Also, this year the background check process was discussed, as was the certifications of the leaders.

I stayed after the meeting to speak to eack delegation leader, face to face. I want to read their body-language, make eye contact, ask questions, in order to make an informed decision as to whether or not my daughter will be attending the trip next summer. Also, my daughter is a hand's-on type of learner. The experience of travelling to other cultures and historic landmarks, to see them with her own eyes, would be far greater than any texbook could ever teach her.

At this point, the biggest obstacle would be raising the money. She will have to do it herself ( with parental assistance, or course), as we already pay a hefty tuition for her to attend private school. How can it hurt a child to raise the money themself?

I figure if my 12 year old can find a way to raise $7,000 in a year, she will have no problem becoming self-sufficient by the time she goes off to college and becomes an adult. That's a lesson any healthy parent wants for their child.

But this is just my opinion, you need to make your own decision. After all, I'm a stranger, too.

Thanks to this article, my mom is not letting me go on one of these trips! The trip will take me to Ireland, Wales, France, England, Belgium, AND the Netherlands. ALL the places I've wanted to go since I was a little kid.

Thanks for ruining it for me.

As so many before me, I recieved a letter in the mail from the People to People Student Ambassador Programs. In reading this letter, I found the following to be amusing:

[the student will gain]:

Confindence and Leadership: View Sydney from the Harbour Bridge or Sydney Tower, take on a ropes course with experienced outdoor guides, and snorkel at the amazing Great Barrier Reef. Learn to surf at one of Australia's pristine beaches.

I fail to see how, unless one has a fear of heights or of swimming, any of these activities can be interepreted as beneficial to one's confidence or leadership abilities.

But I digress. My main objective in posting on this site was to call into question this organization's claim that they were founded by President Eisenhower. In researching this organization (as any diligent and responsible teenager aught) I found an article which damned this organization very plainly. It covered a wrongful death lawsuit and I doubt that any parent who reads this article will seriously consider sending thier child to these people. Besides the atrocities supposedly commited, the article also claimed that the People to People organization was not founded by President Eisenhower at all, but is rather an imitation of a project that Eisenhower disbanded in 1958. I feel that this untruth reflects poorly on the overall quality of this organization and I hope that any student considering traveling with People to People seriously considers this for themselves. I have included the link below.

consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/01/p2p_hill.html

well im like 15 had just gotten the letter in the mail to go to china and i thought it would be cool to do. But obviously theres always a catch and i knew itd be like really expensive or something like that. well i did some research and i found like alot of bad things and rarely some good on this programy thing.
lets just say im not the smartest (but also not the dumbest either ^-~) and so i knew that something was up.
first off yeah i dont no but i didnt wanna have to use my parents money to fund this trip so i looked up the price... and WOW!!! that was like more then my whole lifes savings....(and i just bought myself a new laptop and digital camera!! yay for me!!!!) well yeah i still came up like 3 thousand short(yes im like poor back to selling lemon aids (lol... if you get the joke haha... no?...) ooh well;-;) but n e ways i also found alot of other things on the internet...
well i was reading like all the comments on this site and yeah alot of them were bad, but i did find some good things too... not really some how is sorta think p2p like makes fake accounts and puts them on here...
like i was reading one post and like there was this 14 year old girl and she was way way to mature... i get they choose like smart people but like really i no someone'd like wanna defend the thing they went to but really?(im not sure if am not allowed to do this ooh well but please delete the quotes and names if its like illegal er something...) from Seton: blah blah "The 2006 GYF took place in Kansas City, MO and the GYFHC will take place in Casablanca, Morocco. This is by far my favorite part of the organization, becuase it really shows how you, as a young person, can make a difference in the world." blah blah blah... what a 14yr old is going to call her self a 'young person' or even posts like that?(well could just be me >. other then the price that wasnt so good about p2p was that fact that a kid named tyler died on the p2p trip which really sorta makes me wanna sorta not wanna go
well i was reading some articles on like what happened and how he was like really healthy other then the diabetes
and another reason for the skepticism on p2p putting fake accounts on the internet heres some quotes from Shae.applepie "i'm sure NO ONE out there knows this but the parents of that child FAILED TO PUT ON HIS HEALTH FORM that he was EXTREMELY DIABETIC, so the leaders didn't know what was wrong with him, and the boy didn't bring any medicine with him, as he should have done, so IT WAS THE PARENTS FAULT."
okay even if they didnt put it on the health forms i still think if somebody is coughing up blood or requesting to get medical attention that they should atleast call their parents or go to the hospital atleast for a check up...no? dont you think?
and isnt that alittle insensitive "IT WAS THE PARENTS FAULT." i mean really thats like saying their parents meant for this to happen which i hope/know is not the case... (i am very sorry for their loss)
well there are like some good stuff but with all the false accounts i think p2p made im not sure what to believe but i did hear it was pretty fun and how they like had a great time and stuff...
by now p2p probly doesnt really like me that much now but ooh well...but im not going to say that i still dont want to go... i think that there were some very unfortunate accidents that happend but i also think i might be a good experience to see other countries and meet new. yes i also think that the tuition to go on this trip is like REALLY way expensive well i think i cant save up enough of my money to go on the trip then yeah maybe i'll go
OR!!
maybe i wanna try to save like 20,000 to buy a really nice car (but thats just dreaming ^-~)
well i hope some of my things helped. if it did great if not thats great too... well if you go have fun if not you save 6,000 so your parents can buy you other things with the money they saved...*wink wink*

Well tell me what you think if im right, if im wrong decide for yourself!!

well im like 15 had just gotten the letter in the mail to go to china and i thought it would be cool to do. But obviously theres always a catch and i knew itd be like really expensive or something like that. well i did some research and i found like alot of bad things and rarely some good on this programy thing.
lets just say im not the smartest (but also not the dumbest either ^-~) and so i knew that something was up.
first off yeah i dont no but i didnt wanna have to use my parents money to fund this trip so i looked up the price... and WOW!!! that was like more then my whole lifes savings....(and i just bought myself a new laptop and digital camera!! yay for me!!!!) well yeah i still came up like 3 thousand short(yes im like poor back to selling lemon aids (lol... if you get the joke haha... no?...) ooh well;-;) but n e ways i also found alot of other things on the internet...
well i was reading like all the comments on this site and yeah alot of them were bad, but i did find some good things too... not really some how is sorta think p2p like makes fake accounts and puts them on here...
like i was reading one post and like there was this 14 year old girl and she was way way to mature... i get they choose like smart people but like really i no someone'd like wanna defend the thing they went to but really?(im not sure if am not allowed to do this ooh well but please delete the quotes and names if its like illegal er something...) from Seton: blah blah "The 2006 GYF took place in Kansas City, MO and the GYFHC will take place in Casablanca, Morocco. This is by far my favorite part of the organization, becuase it really shows how you, as a young person, can make a difference in the world." blah blah blah... what a 14yr old is going to call her self a 'young person' or even posts like that?(well could just be me >. other then the price that wasnt so good about p2p was that fact that a kid named tyler died on the p2p trip which really sorta makes me wanna sorta not wanna go
well i was reading some articles on like what happened and how he was like really healthy other then the diabetes
and another reason for the skepticism on p2p putting fake accounts on the internet heres some quotes from Shae.applepie "i'm sure NO ONE out there knows this but the parents of that child FAILED TO PUT ON HIS HEALTH FORM that he was EXTREMELY DIABETIC, so the leaders didn't know what was wrong with him, and the boy didn't bring any medicine with him, as he should have done, so IT WAS THE PARENTS FAULT."
okay even if they didnt put it on the health forms i still think if somebody is coughing up blood or requesting to get medical attention that they should atleast call their parents or go to the hospital atleast for a check up...no? dont you think?
and isnt that alittle insensitive "IT WAS THE PARENTS FAULT." i mean really thats like saying their parents meant for this to happen which i hope/know is not the case... (i am very sorry for their loss)
well there are like some good stuff but with all the false accounts i think p2p made im not sure what to believe but i did hear it was pretty fun and how they like had a great time and stuff...
by now p2p probly doesnt really like me that much now but ooh well...but im not going to say that i still dont want to go... i think that there were some very unfortunate accidents that happend but i also think i might be a good experience to see other countries and meet new. yes i also think that the tuition to go on this trip is like REALLY way expensive well i think i cant save up enough of my money to go on the trip then yeah maybe i'll go
OR!!
maybe i wanna try to save like 20,000 to buy a really nice car (but thats just dreaming ^-~)
well i hope some of my things helped. if it did great if not thats great too... well if you go have fun if not you save 6,000 so your parents can buy you other things with the money they saved...*wink wink*

Well tell me what you think if im right, if im wrong decide for yourself!!

well im like 15 had just gotten the letter in the mail to go to china and i thought it would be cool to do. But obviously theres always a catch and i knew itd be like really expensive or something like that. well i did some research and i found like alot of bad things and rarely some good on this programy thing.
lets just say im not the smartest (but also not the dumbest either ^-~) and so i knew that something was up.
first off yeah i dont no but i didnt wanna have to use my parents money to fund this trip so i looked up the price... and WOW!!! that was like more then my whole lifes savings....(and i just bought myself a new laptop and digital camera!! yay for me!!!!) well yeah i still came up like 3 thousand short(yes im like poor back to selling lemon aids (lol... if you get the joke haha... no?...) ooh well;-;) but n e ways i also found alot of other things on the internet...
well i was reading like all the comments on this site and yeah alot of them were bad, but i did find some good things too... not really some how is sorta think p2p like makes fake accounts and puts them on here...
like i was reading one post and like there was this 14 year old girl and she was way way to mature... i get they choose like smart people but like really i no someone'd like wanna defend the thing they went to but really?(im not sure if am not allowed to do this ooh well but please delete the quotes and names if its like illegal er something...) from Seton: blah blah "The 2006 GYF took place in Kansas City, MO and the GYFHC will take place in Casablanca, Morocco. This is by far my favorite part of the organization, becuase it really shows how you, as a young person, can make a difference in the world." blah blah blah... what a 14yr old is going to call her self a 'young person' or even posts like that?(well could just be me >. other then the price that wasnt so good about p2p was that fact that a kid named tyler died on the p2p trip which really sorta makes me wanna sorta not wanna go
well i was reading some articles on like what happened and how he was like really healthy other then the diabetes
and another reason for the skepticism on p2p putting fake accounts on the internet heres some quotes from Shae.applepie "i'm sure NO ONE out there knows this but the parents of that child FAILED TO PUT ON HIS HEALTH FORM that he was EXTREMELY DIABETIC, so the leaders didn't know what was wrong with him, and the boy didn't bring any medicine with him, as he should have done, so IT WAS THE PARENTS FAULT."
okay even if they didnt put it on the health forms i still think if somebody is coughing up blood or requesting to get medical attention that they should atleast call their parents or go to the hospital atleast for a check up...no? dont you think?
and isnt that alittle insensitive "IT WAS THE PARENTS FAULT." i mean really thats like saying their parents meant for this to happen which i hope/know is not the case... (i am very sorry for their loss)
well there are like some good stuff but with all the false accounts i think p2p made im not sure what to believe but i did hear it was pretty fun and how they like had a great time and stuff...
by now p2p probly doesnt really like me that much now but ooh well...but im not going to say that i still dont want to go... i think that there were some very unfortunate accidents that happend but i also think i might be a good experience to see other countries and meet new. yes i also think that the tuition to go on this trip is like REALLY way expensive well i think i cant save up enough of my money to go on the trip then yeah maybe i'll go
OR!!
maybe i wanna try to save like 20,000 to buy a really nice car (but thats just dreaming ^-~)
well i hope some of my things helped. if it did great if not thats great too... well if you go have fun if not you save 6,000 so your parents can buy you other things with the money they saved...*wink wink*

Well tell me what you think if im right, if im wrong decide for yourself!!

well im like 15 had just gotten the letter in the mail to go to china and i thought it would be cool to do. But obviously theres always a catch and i knew itd be like really expensive or something like that. well i did some research and i found like alot of bad things and rarely some good on this programy thing.
lets just say im not the smartest (but also not the dumbest either ^-~) and so i knew that something was up.
first off yeah i dont no but i didnt wanna have to use my parents money to fund this trip so i looked up the price... and WOW!!! that was like more then my whole lifes savings....(and i just bought myself a new laptop and digital camera!! yay for me!!!!) well yeah i still came up like 3 thousand short(yes im like poor back to selling lemon aids (lol... if you get the joke haha... no?...) ooh well;-;) but n e ways i also found alot of other things on the internet...
well i was reading like all the comments on this site and yeah alot of them were bad, but i did find some good things too... not really some how is sorta think p2p like makes fake accounts and puts them on here...
like i was reading one post and like there was this 14 year old girl and she was way way to mature... i get they choose like smart people but like really i no someone'd like wanna defend the thing they went to but really?(im not sure if am not allowed to do this ooh well but please delete the quotes and names if its like illegal er something...) from Seton: blah blah "The 2006 GYF took place in Kansas City, MO and the GYFHC will take place in Casablanca, Morocco. This is by far my favorite part of the organization, becuase it really shows how you, as a young person, can make a difference in the world." blah blah blah... what a 14yr old is going to call her self a 'young person' or even posts like that?(well could just be me >. other then the price that wasnt so good about p2p was that fact that a kid named tyler died on the p2p trip which really sorta makes me wanna sorta not wanna go
well i was reading some articles on like what happened and how he was like really healthy other then the diabetes
and another reason for the skepticism on p2p putting fake accounts on the internet heres some quotes from Shae.applepie "i'm sure NO ONE out there knows this but the parents of that child FAILED TO PUT ON HIS HEALTH FORM that he was EXTREMELY DIABETIC, so the leaders didn't know what was wrong with him, and the boy didn't bring any medicine with him, as he should have done, so IT WAS THE PARENTS FAULT."
okay even if they didnt put it on the health forms i still think if somebody is coughing up blood or requesting to get medical attention that they should atleast call their parents or go to the hospital atleast for a check up...no? dont you think?
and isnt that alittle insensitive "IT WAS THE PARENTS FAULT." i mean really thats like saying their parents meant for this to happen which i hope/know is not the case... (i am very sorry for their loss)
well there are like some good stuff but with all the false accounts i think p2p made im not sure what to believe but i did hear it was pretty fun and how they like had a great time and stuff...
by now p2p probly doesnt really like me that much now but ooh well...but im not going to say that i still dont want to go... i think that there were some very unfortunate accidents that happend but i also think i might be a good experience to see other countries and meet new. yes i also think that the tuition to go on this trip is like REALLY way expensive well i think i cant save up enough of my money to go on the trip then yeah maybe i'll go
OR!!
maybe i wanna try to save like 20,000 to buy a really nice car (but thats just dreaming ^-~)
well i hope some of my things helped. if it did great if not thats great too... well if you go have fun if not you save 6,000 so your parents can buy you other things with the money they saved...*wink wink*

Well tell me what you think if im right, if im wrong decide for yourself!!

To the poster who condescendingly referred to Tyler's mother as "momsy", a preventable death while directly supervised by the People to People "Delegates" is gross negligence on the Part of the company. The "Delegates" are hired by People to People to represent People to People. The Delegates therefore become the company. The "delegates" are the service/packaging being purchased. The child had a treatable health condition and he voiced a request for medical care, but the company ignored the symptoms, ignored the request. This was no accidental death.

To all the others who state having a lost "student" is the norm... having a child become lost during what is supposed to be a supervised activity is another unacceptable form of negligence, just like leaving a child left unattended for hours on end is negligence.

I called my son's school to inquire about the "nomination". The school (teachers, director) did not nominate my child. The school informed me the names are most likely purchased from a source having access to all area students entering high school. I then began my research by next visiting the website listed in the letter.

The website exclaims their company's (or supposed founder's) intent is to create and instill diplomacy and peace by enhancing U.S. youth's world-wide awareness through travels. Based on the responses on this site, I don't see "diplomacy" or a sense of peace from most of the past participants. The majority of past participants are callous in their responses. And if this is a basic statistical sampling of "life changing" results, then, in my opinion, the program has failed to achieve their "mission" of fostering/promoting/evolving world peace, given the animosity presented within these responses. To have a death be ignored or the severity of the death lessened by a company all for the sake of profiting is in no way humane.

Because I am my child's primary advocate and because his safety and well being remains to be my primary function during my child's developing years, I rather not expose him to false hype, all to become disillusioned by some marketing scam. Had the company presented their intent more honestly, I would be accepting of cultural travels for the purpose of educational awareness and enjoyment. However, the negiligence can't be ignored.

I am seventeen years old and just got invited on the trip to England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland for the 2009 Summer Term. As soon as I received my letter I began researching to see the pros and cons of the program.

Months before a child goes on a trip with this organization,
the family is given an itenerary allowing parents to see what kinds of activities, hotels, ect that the student will be doing/visiting. This allows parents to think over their concerns and decide whether or not they should send their child.
Activities such as whitewater rafting, scuba diving, and reppelling can all be dangerous, but they are also very fun and are new oppurtunities for many people.
All parents must decided if the risks outweigh the benfits for their family, not for everyones families.


As for the original post,
my response is simple.

You knew that your daughter had a previous knee injury, no one else would know that. People to People didnt know that when they invited your daughter, and we all know that there are several other trips you could have chosen that required less acitivity for her. You knew that this trip involved several hours of walking and hiking each day, and even with her previous injury, you sent her on the trip. THe leader may have been rude to you, but just as in school, not EVERY teacher cares or is as interested as they should be, and it is unfortunate that your daughter had to have one of those people on her trip. But as for you, you should have known your daughters knee was too weak and tried to find a differnet trip that would have been just as enjoyable for her. It is rediculous and outrageous for you to try and tear down a companys good name because YOU made a mistake. As a parent, you are at fault for not understanding your childs phsical needs, and you CANNOT blame a company who has no prior experience with your daughter for not knowing.


Also, to the parents who have complained about the cost, or not knnowing the cost. If you are on this website making posts, then obviously youve been doing some research. So why not try it at the source if youd like more information? I got my letter yesterday and I already know that all of the trips cost from $2500-$6000.
Obviously if your child is going on a domestic trip, it will be in the lower portion of that range, and going abroad is the upper end. Just to let you know, again I am invited to the England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales trip, I was told it would be the upper half, but not the most expensive. so I would say be prepared for about five thousand dollars. But let em point out to you parents who were so concerned about not knwoing the cost, the phone number for general information was listed plain as day on the p2p website. I am seventeen years old. This is not rocket science. Try to think differently about programs you send your child on, you can get valuble information from the company itself.


Of course you all must know about the student deaths on these trips, and I agree some of them werent handled correctly, but the vast majority of them were health related. THe students who have died probably shouldnt have been going halfway aroudn the workd without their family. I suffer from migraines and have recently been having strokes, and this is a huge concern for me and my family, and may be a reason tha tI dont join the group. I understand that many families feel that a child with a handicap or a health problem is still entitled to these great oppurtunities and should seize the day, I feel the same way being one of those children. But I also know my limits, and will have to think long and hard when deciding if my body can handle this trip.



I hope Ive been of help to someone.
Just remmber to look at every aspect of this organization.
Im sure seeral people have had an unpleasant experience or two on these trips,
but honestly,
when youre scuba diving in the Great Barrier reef or being knighted at Warwick Castle or riding the biggest ferris wheel in the world,
is having to try a new food the you dont love instead of pizza for maybe 20 days really all that big of a deal?

Ill let you and your child decide for yourselves.

I am seventeen years old and just got invited on the trip to England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland for the 2009 Summer Term. As soon as I received my letter I began researching to see the pros and cons of the program.

Months before a child goes on a trip with this organization,
the family is given an itenerary allowing parents to see what kinds of activities, hotels, ect that the student will be doing/visiting. This allows parents to think over their concerns and decide whether or not they should send their child.
Activities such as whitewater rafting, scuba diving, and reppelling can all be dangerous, but they are also very fun and are new oppurtunities for many people.
All parents must decided if the risks outweigh the benfits for their family, not for everyones families.


As for the original post,
my response is simple.

You knew that your daughter had a previous knee injury, no one else would know that. People to People didnt know that when they invited your daughter, and we all know that there are several other trips you could have chosen that required less acitivity for her. You knew that this trip involved several hours of walking and hiking each day, and even with her previous injury, you sent her on the trip. THe leader may have been rude to you, but just as in school, not EVERY teacher cares or is as interested as they should be, and it is unfortunate that your daughter had to have one of those people on her trip. But as for you, you should have known your daughters knee was too weak and tried to find a differnet trip that would have been just as enjoyable for her. It is rediculous and outrageous for you to try and tear down a companys good name because YOU made a mistake. As a parent, you are at fault for not understanding your childs phsical needs, and you CANNOT blame a company who has no prior experience with your daughter for not knowing.


Also, to the parents who have complained about the cost, or not knnowing the cost. If you are on this website making posts, then obviously youve been doing some research. So why not try it at the source if youd like more information? I got my letter yesterday and I already know that all of the trips cost from $2500-$6000.
Obviously if your child is going on a domestic trip, it will be in the lower portion of that range, and going abroad is the upper end. Just to let you know, again I am invited to the England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales trip, I was told it would be the upper half, but not the most expensive. so I would say be prepared for about five thousand dollars. But let em point out to you parents who were so concerned about not knwoing the cost, the phone number for general information was listed plain as day on the p2p website. I am seventeen years old. This is not rocket science. Try to think differently about programs you send your child on, you can get valuble information from the company itself.


Of course you all must know about the student deaths on these trips, and I agree some of them werent handled correctly, but the vast majority of them were health related. THe students who have died probably shouldnt have been going halfway aroudn the workd without their family. I suffer from migraines and have recently been having strokes, and this is a huge concern for me and my family, and may be a reason tha tI dont join the group. I understand that many families feel that a child with a handicap or a health problem is still entitled to these great oppurtunities and should seize the day, I feel the same way being one of those children. But I also know my limits, and will have to think long and hard when deciding if my body can handle this trip.



I hope Ive been of help to someone.
Just remmber to look at every aspect of this organization.
Im sure seeral people have had an unpleasant experience or two on these trips,
but honestly,
when youre scuba diving in the Great Barrier reef or being knighted at Warwick Castle or riding the biggest ferris wheel in the world,
is having to try a new food the you dont love instead of pizza for maybe 20 days really all that big of a deal?

Ill let you and your child decide for yourselves.

my girlfriend is about to travel on her third P2P trip as a leader. one was decent, one was a complete disaster. both, she agrees, were overpriced for what the kids received. i work in a sales and marketing job, i can guarantee you all that P2P is getting the names of children to be "selected" for each trip purely based upon the fact that their name showed up on the list of people having enough money to send their kid on the trip.

my girlfriend is about to head to australia, there are way too many pointless meetings, so many kids have dropped out of her group due to P2P not responding to parents' questions such as "what are the specific dates" and "who will be leading the trip?". since kids have dropped out it is still "up in the air" whether my girlfriend will be the leader or whether her group will be paired up with a group from another city travelling at the same time. what parent would send their kid to australia when it is nearing the end of april and there is still no definitive date set and the person who has run the meetings and built a relationship with the kids and parents may not be going?

sure, why not spend $7,000 (that is the current price in 2008 for the australian trip) when the date is just being determined and the appointed leader may be replaced by someone you have not and probably never will meet until the day you drop your kid off at the airport? when my girlfriend went to europe she said the accomodations were very poor, the trip was so hurried in covering way too many aspects of france and england that the kids never were able to slow down and actually enjoy what they were seeing. no kidding, they spent less than 40 minutes at the louvre. why even send your kid if they are being rushed around and p2p is skimping on their hotel and meal costs while parents are forking out money which deserves much better?

everyone my girlfriend and i have encountered in meetings, phone calls and e-mails who is associated with p2p on a recruitment level and coordination level have been rude, shifty, rather uncaring about the children's experience and very centered up the money received from each child's parents.

my girlfriend is about to travel on her third P2P trip as a leader. one was decent, one was a complete disaster. both, she agrees, were overpriced for what the kids received. i work in a sales and marketing job, i can guarantee you all that P2P is getting the names of children to be "selected" for each trip purely based upon the fact that their name showed up on the list of people having enough money to send their kid on the trip.

my girlfriend is about to head to australia, there are way too many pointless meetings, so many kids have dropped out of her group due to P2P not responding to parents' questions such as "what are the specific dates" and "who will be leading the trip?". since kids have dropped out it is still "up in the air" whether my girlfriend will be the leader or whether her group will be paired up with a group from another city travelling at the same time. what parent would send their kid to australia when it is nearing the end of april and there is still no definitive date set and the person who has run the meetings and built a relationship with the kids and parents may not be going?

sure, why not spend $7,000 (that is the current price in 2008 for the australian trip) when the date is just being determined and the appointed leader may be replaced by someone you have not and probably never will meet until the day you drop your kid off at the airport? when my girlfriend went to europe she said the accomodations were very poor, the trip was so hurried in covering way too many aspects of france and england that the kids never were able to slow down and actually enjoy what they were seeing. no kidding, they spent less than 40 minutes at the louvre. why even send your kid if they are being rushed around and p2p is skimping on their hotel and meal costs while parents are forking out money which deserves much better?

everyone my girlfriend and i have encountered in meetings, phone calls and e-mails who is associated with p2p on a recruitment level and coordination level have been rude, shifty, rather uncaring about the children's experience and very centered up the money received from each child's parents.

my girlfriend is about to travel on her third P2P trip as a leader. one was decent, one was a complete disaster. both, she agrees, were overpriced for what the kids received. i work in a sales and marketing job, i can guarantee you all that P2P is getting the names of children to be "selected" for each trip purely based upon the fact that their name showed up on the list of people having enough money to send their kid on the trip.

my girlfriend is about to head to australia, there are way too many pointless meetings, so many kids have dropped out of her group due to P2P not responding to parents' questions such as "what are the specific dates" and "who will be leading the trip?". since kids have dropped out it is still "up in the air" whether my girlfriend will be the leader or whether her group will be paired up with a group from another city travelling at the same time. what parent would send their kid to australia when it is nearing the end of april and there is still no definitive date set and the person who has run the meetings and built a relationship with the kids and parents may not be going?

sure, why not spend $7,000 (that is the current price in 2008 for the australian trip) when the date is just being determined and the appointed leader may be replaced by someone you have not and probably never will meet until the day you drop your kid off at the airport? when my girlfriend went to europe she said the accomodations were very poor, the trip was so hurried in covering way too many aspects of france and england that the kids never were able to slow down and actually enjoy what they were seeing. no kidding, they spent less than 40 minutes at the louvre. why even send your kid if they are being rushed around and p2p is skimping on their hotel and meal costs while parents are forking out money which deserves much better?

everyone my girlfriend and i have encountered in meetings, phone calls and e-mails who is associated with p2p on a recruitment level and coordination level have been rude, shifty, rather uncaring about the children's experience and very centered up the money received from each child's parents.

my girlfriend is about to travel on her third P2P trip as a leader. one was decent, one was a complete disaster. both, she agrees, were overpriced for what the kids received. i work in a sales and marketing job, i can guarantee you all that P2P is getting the names of children to be "selected" for each trip purely based upon the fact that their name showed up on the list of people having enough money to send their kid on the trip.

my girlfriend is about to head to australia, there are way too many pointless meetings, so many kids have dropped out of her group due to P2P not responding to parents' questions such as "what are the specific dates" and "who will be leading the trip?". since kids have dropped out it is still "up in the air" whether my girlfriend will be the leader or whether her group will be paired up with a group from another city travelling at the same time. what parent would send their kid to australia when it is nearing the end of april and there is still no definitive date set and the person who has run the meetings and built a relationship with the kids and parents may not be going?

sure, why not spend $7,000 (that is the current price in 2008 for the australian trip) when the date is just being determined and the appointed leader may be replaced by someone you have not and probably never will meet until the day you drop your kid off at the airport? when my girlfriend went to europe she said the accomodations were very poor, the trip was so hurried in covering way too many aspects of france and england that the kids never were able to slow down and actually enjoy what they were seeing. no kidding, they spent less than 40 minutes at the louvre. why even send your kid if they are being rushed around and p2p is skimping on their hotel and meal costs while parents are forking out money which deserves much better?

everyone my girlfriend and i have encountered in meetings, phone calls and e-mails who is associated with p2p on a recruitment level and coordination level have been rude, shifty, rather uncaring about the children's experience and very centered up the money received from each child's parents.

I am the mother of the child that died. He is not the only one to die, he is not the only on to be injured or ill. Please visit www.tylerhill.org to learn more about the T HILL BILL for Safety Standards to protect children.

PTP Student Ambassadors bought the right to the PTP name for an undisclosed amount of money. PTPI in or lawsuit denies any affilation with PTP Student Ambassadors other than contractual.

Dwight Eisenhower never founded an organization or company called People to People, this is a lie. Go to the Missouri Secretary of State and look up People to People Internationals Articles of Incorporation or their annual filings until the Great President's death, his name is no where to be found.

Ambassadors Group is a for-profit organization doing business as People to People et al. It's very deceptive, especially for kids, and no most kids are not nominated, Ambassadors Group spends more than 30million annually on marketing these programs to children under false pretenses. See CNN Money articles. See Consumer Affairs articles on the WWW.

How many children need to die before the ODDS cry out, S T O P! One is too many, two is egregious, especially under these false pretenses.

I have read through some of these responses, and it looks like some of you don't know much about People to People. First off, I've never been on a P2P Ambassadors trip, I have participated in the World Leadership Forum and will be going to the Future Leaders Summit on International Diplomacy this June, 2008. My experience at the World Leadership Forum was great! The only major problem we had was that the hotel food that was being catered got someone sick to their stomach and someone had to stay with them one day while we were out on our excursions. Our delegate leaders were great, and at no time did I feel unsafe or threatened by them or anyone else.
As for the nomination process, for the programs I am in, you have to be nominated by a teacher. I was nominated by one of my seventh grade teachers to attend the WLF. I have looked at other ways to get in and from what it looks like they accept nominees first and then they will look at others who either have good scores, or good grades. As for continuing the programs after being initially nominated, PTP will send letters about every 6 months about upcoming programs, I was invited to go to Europe last summer but was not able to do to previous arrangements. This year I was invited to this Future Leaders Summit which is supposed to be a stepping stone into learning how to apply for college and focus on a career path, all while learning about the subject at hand and doing hands on activities, or visiting places relevant to the topic.
Tuition - Tuition can be a big thing or a small thing depending on your pay. When I went to the WLF my parents were able to pay for the tuition in monthly payments, but this time I will have to come up with some of the money by fundraising and working. (this is aimed at the people who said "the reason we all like the programs is because our parents are paying for it and we don't know about the money stuff") Thats not true - some people fundraised over half of the tuition to help out and I can't confirm this nor deny it but I've heard that some people paid the whole thing. You can get many ideas from PTP's web page about fund-raising from car-washes, garage sales, to things like applying for grants and getting sponsorships, or even holding a benefit concert with local bands in your community. (That was aimed at the people who said "PTP's fundraising ideas include recommending to panhandle for money")

After saying all this, I'm not saying that this incident was made up, but remember that there are some incidents where this has happened.
Also, if this really happened, it is unfortunate that it did, but please don't start bashing the whole organization and assuming that its all bad, because these types of organizations are the ones preparing the younger generations how to lead! And plus, doesn't everyone make mistakes?

-Andrew from Arizona

I have read through some of these responses, and it looks like some of you don't know much about People to People. First off, I've never been on a P2P Ambassadors trip, I have participated in the World Leadership Forum and will be going to the Future Leaders Summit on International Diplomacy this June, 2008. My experience at the World Leadership Forum was great! The only major problem we had was that the hotel food that was being catered got someone sick to their stomach and someone had to stay with them one day while we were out on our excursions. Our delegate leaders were great, and at no time did I feel unsafe or threatened by them or anyone else.
As for the nomination process, for the programs I am in, you have to be nominated by a teacher. I was nominated by one of my seventh grade teachers to attend the WLF. I have looked at other ways to get in and from what it looks like they accept nominees first and then they will look at others who either have good scores, or good grades. As for continuing the programs after being initially nominated, PTP will send letters about every 6 months about upcoming programs, I was invited to go to Europe last summer but was not able to do to previous arrangements. This year I was invited to this Future Leaders Summit which is supposed to be a stepping stone into learning how to apply for college and focus on a career path, all while learning about the subject at hand and doing hands on activities, or visiting places relevant to the topic.
Tuition - Tuition can be a big thing or a small thing depending on your pay. When I went to the WLF my parents were able to pay for the tuition in monthly payments, but this time I will have to come up with some of the money by fundraising and working. (this is aimed at the people who said "the reason we all like the programs is because our parents are paying for it and we don't know about the money stuff") Thats not true - some people fundraised over half of the tuition to help out and I can't confirm this nor deny it but I've heard that some people paid the whole thing. You can get many ideas from PTP's web page about fund-raising from car-washes, garage sales, to things like applying for grants and getting sponsorships, or even holding a benefit concert with local bands in your community. (That was aimed at the people who said "PTP's fundraising ideas include recommending to panhandle for money")

After saying all this, I'm not saying that this incident was made up, but remember that there are some incidents where this has happened.
Also, if this really happened, it is unfortunate that it did, but please don't start bashing the whole organization and assuming that its all bad, because these types of organizations are the ones preparing the younger generations how to lead! And plus, doesn't everyone make mistakes?

-Andrew from Arizona

Yes people to people seems expensive. But compared to some other programs they are very similar. I was looking up other programs the other day and found that seemed of interest to me. It was a Marine Biology study aboard trip were I would spend 2 weeks on a boat scuba diving and then stay in a eco-lodge for 1 week. The price for this trip was 4,820 not including air fair. Also What you don't notice is that fuel does cost a lot. Prices for air fair goes up because of fuel. Also the fuel on the coaches.
Another thing is that some families say they can get a cheaper trip for the whole family. But soon enough your child will need to learn to live on their own.

P2P is a good way to understand what living away from your family might be like. I know that this summer will give me a good feel for it. I plan on living in Australia and going to college down there where I might only get to see my parents 1 or 2 times a year.

People to People Student Ambassadors is an excellent program with a proven track record. The loss of life momsy posted is tragic and I am sorry for your loss but the fault in this case seems to be with the delegation leaders or the other students on the trip. People to People sends thousands of kids away each summer and provides nearly all of them with an enriching and exciting experience. I would agree that one loss of life is to many but you'd be hard pressed to find a student travel program with over 50 years of experience that hasn't had at least one death. To be blunt your child has about the same chance of dying on a People to People trip as they do if they're walking to the ice cream store at home.

Also to those who cite the expense here is the link to the interary of a program last year that cost $5699; very expensive, yes, but meals, hotels, airfare, tour company everything is included. I strongly recommend checking out the website below if you are one of the people who doubt what you are getting for the money
http://www.alumniambassadors.org/berlin-st-petersburg.aspx

By the way i went on that^^ trip and it was great, no problems. I know many of you aren't going to be able to get past that one tragic loss of life, however nobody except the people on the trip know what truly happened. Yes, the people to people program asks you to put your childs life in their hands however hundreds of thousands of parents have done that and only had their child come back an improved person unfortunately one did not but as someone who's been on a trip I would strongly recommend it.

Here's a link to the People to People info from the Dwight D Eisenhower library
http://www.eisenhower.utexas.edu/dl/People_To_People/People_to_People.html

If you asked for your money back, and People to People would not refund $500 deposit because they did not disclose that a child died, and instead report a 'solid safety record' you have the right to file a Federal Trade Commission Complaint and report the deceptive practice, and also notify your State's attorney general. Until parents start standing up against the practice, nothing will change. Call, write, stand up!

The Original Ripoff Report Text:
My Son is so excited to go on his trip with people to people, that I don't know how to tell him that he is not going. After finding out 2 days ago that a child lost his life on one of the trips, my wife and I decided not to let him go. One of the deciding factors was when we asked our delegate leaders, there responses were "We have never heard of such a thing" and reassured us that the number one concern is saftey and my son will be fine. What bothers me is this: How can you be affiliated with a program and not know that a death occured on a P2P trip. Mabey Im just WEIRD......but shouldn't leaders know about this? They sure are informative at there meetings. To me that is a major detail. Any how I called P2P asked about a refund and the gal said yes I can have a refund, They are going to keep $500.00 of my money I am kind of pi**ed but on the other hand it is a small price to pay for my sons safety. Like I said mabey Im just being weird! I've never been to Washington D.C I have heard that it is educational I think Ill take the family there. ~Peace Over Protective Parent~ P.s I still don't know what they did for my son that warrants them to keep $500.00 hummmm Over Protective Parent Arlington, Washington
U.S.A.

I have also filed a report with Rip Off and a lawsuit against this company, but to this thread, this mother is "Dead Right" not wrong. I wish that she would have filed a lawsuit. Perhaps it would have protected other children

Our reality is similar, our son was neglected in a hotel room after he asked to go to the hospital. He vomited blood during the night, all leaders were in his room the next morning, no one phoned us, no one took him to the hospital, their '24 hour response center' did not contact us nor did they 'obtain immediate and appropriate medical attention when severely ill' as promised on their website. Moreover, they blamed our role model son for his death telling the kids in Minneapolis that Ty died because he did not take his insulin. This organization is a for profit, it was never founded by Eisenhower see N Y Times, June 10 1958 People to People Dissolves. Or consumeraffairs.com Write your attorney general. Complain!!

I have posted another topic about p2p on another report so I will not the the whole thing over again!!

IT IS NOT A SCAM! To the lady with the cat it is a problem with the mailing list!

I have attened my first orientation meeting yesterday and I am in love with the program. p2p offers way more opportunities than any other average trip. My school trip to Spain cost 3,000 dollars for 1 week. It is basically a average trip! My people to people trip is 6,000 and 3 weeks with opportunities only p2p has to offer! I am going to England and France this summer and I get to stay overnight at Warwick castle which only People to People gets to do!!

There is a reason why they don't tell you about the money in the letter or online. They want you to know that there are ways to raise money with loans and fundraising such as bake sales!!

For those who have complained about this opportunity, is your concern that your child isn't "special" or is it the financial aspect of it? All things considered, this can be an amazing experience for young people who would otherwise not be able to partake on these excursions. Yes their marketing tactics might be questionable, but in the end, all who receive the letter and raise the funds are welcome to go. It might hurt your child's pride a little bit to discover that they weren't "specially selected or nominated" to go on these trips but does that make this experience to travel abroad any less valuable? And I've spent a significant time overseas and visited several countries. I beg anyone to find a 21-day ALL INCLUSIVE trip for much less.

The easiest way for the company to ally the fears of all the parents (like me) who are considering them would be to let us know what was done in this situation. I won't allow my son to participate in a program where the possibility of bad judgment endangering him exists.
Mistakes happen, but action need to be taken to correct them and it would seem we all need to know what they were.

I would just like to say that I attended the summer trip with P2P from New York to the South Pacific in 1999. We spent 21 days there and the trip was under $3000 including airfare, hotels, etc. It was an amazing value and not to mention an amazing experience. I was twelve years old and the youngest of my group, with 40 students and 3 delegation leaders. All of the leaders were extremely supportive. The schedule was rigorous and it was understood before the trip that if an individual was not to attend a particular event that they would not necessarily be chaperoned at that point, as they only had 3 leaders to 40 students.

Considering the age group this was perfectly acceptable. In most cases anyone who was not feeling well or could not attend was able to rest at the hotel for the day. In one case (because we were in between hotels) we had to check in early and change the schedule a bit for a girl who was not feeling well. The only major incident we had was on a whale watching expedition. A boy was jumping down the stairs and we hit a wave. He fell and broke his ankle. One of the leaders stayed with him in the hospital while his parents flew from NY to Brisbane.

We had a few upset students who had never been away from home before, which is why they try to select kids who have traveled before. I want to say that it sounds like this case is an example of a delegation leader who was having a particularly bad day, but considering that there are other leaders who she may have dealt with, that doesn't seem to be the case. I have a hard time understanding why the child was upset in the first place.

All I am reading are two things, one being that she got lost and the other that the leaders were rude to her. I would assume that the rudeness would be over exaggerated a bit when it is coming from a child who is trying to get a parent to fly across the country. And as far as her getting lost, they are very adamant about wearing the p2p shirts when traveling etc, as there are so many children and only a few leaders.

They select responsible candidates in part because it is the child's responsibility to pay attention and keep up with the group. If they are lost, which is bound to happen at some point with at least one child, the delegation leaders immediately spring to action as I have witnessed before. Once they are found we would have a count off to make sure everyone was there, as we would also do at numerous times throughout the trip.

As far as solo hikes, I am not sure what that entails.. I would suggest getting details from another student who took part in the trip to avoid bias. But if it was an unsafe program they wouldn't have it. Understand that there are liabilities that they are well aware of and they would not take any unnecessary risks. It was probably some type of team-building learning experience that was not followed as it had been planned out.

For example, if you are supposed to cross your arms, close your eyes and fall to trust a teammate to catch you, it is possible that they do not catch you, in which case you could fall and scratch your knee. It happens. But all in all I have experienced the amazing things that this program has to offer and I know many others who have as well. I think this is all an over-exaggeration and would not encourage anyone to miss this opportunity of a lifetime!

My 16 year old son with juvenile diabetes went to Australia summer of 2006.
He had a blast and arrived home safe and in one piece. I too researched as much as I could, attended all the meetings. We were very nervous to send our son although he is able to self-manage his disease, you just never know.
I am planning to send my daughter (also with juvenile diabetes) on the next European People to People trip.

Lisa B, R.N.

I have traveled with People to People on a few different occasions, to various places around the world. I am 14 years old and have experienced trips with People to People Ambassadors and People to People International, in addition to being the president and founder of my local People to People International Student Chapter.

Frankly, I highly disagree with the first person to post. I understand that your situation was a terrible one, and I can see how you would be upset. People to People is an organization that was created to promote "Peace through Understanding", not to cause problems. Suing People to People could send them into ruin, destroying life-changing opportunities for over 80,000 student leaders every year.

People to People has changed my life completely, and I'm thankful for it everyday. People to People opens the door to so many opportunities, and gives you the chance to experience different cultures around the world.

Throughout all of my trips with People to People, I have not met one person that doesn't like PTP. Not everyone will like People to People, but that number is a very small one. Following that terrible depiction of People to People, I was ecstatic to see so many supporters of People to People. This post is angering to people who support this amazing organization.

I am 21 currently and went on a People to People trip to the American Southwest when I was in 6th grade or about 12 years old.

First off I will say that the trip was a great experience and definitely fun. I will not claim that it changed my personality or made me a more confident person and all that jazz but it was a great time along with a group of students that I had never met before. I think that can speak for itself.

My trip was two weeks long. It can be tough for a 12 year old to spend this amount of time away from home. There were a few kids that were homesick and everybody was taken care of very well by the trip leaders. If there were some circumstances where a kid did not want to or could not participate in an activity they were still taken care of. A leader would stay behind.
My trip leaders were amazing people. Even the bus driver and hired tour guide were great. This can vary trip to trip but I would think that to end up with somebody not doing the best job would be very rare.

If you choose to send a child on a trip I would not question the organization at all.

Now where they do come into question is the selection process. These issues are well-documented online and even at 12 years old I could figure out that I was likely not handpicked based on merit or recommendations for this opportunity.

Do not send a child on this trip with the reasoning behind the decision being that this is a unique and special opportunity that your child has been specially selected for. Everything is very official sounding to give you this illusion but don't believe it. I even received a letter (I believe it was legit) from the British Parliament congratulating me on my selection.

So in summary I will say that these trips are great experiences but don't let the illusion that your child has been specially picked positively influence your decision.

My daughter has traveled twice with People to People and I can tell you that she was initially nominated by a teacher! As a teacher I have nominated serveral students each year and as an alumni abassador my daughter nominates students as well!!! Yes, they do use a national registry for the majority of the names, but that means that your childs name is out there somewhere.

As to the fees, if you were to look at the behind the scenes tours and people they meet you would find that you could not do the trip at all let alone for that price! They do include all meals, lodging, tours and transfers etc. for their fee not to mention the care they take of the children. People tend to forget the visas that can sometimes be involved too. And as to the people saying they are working class, P2P doesn't help, or that the money can not be raised I have news for you. We are lower middle class- we worked hard to come up with the money the first time and told my daughter she could only travel again if she raised the money herself!

Well, she raised all but $537.50 and she was able to get a NO INTEREST loan from P2P for the 500 and I gave her the 37.50. So let me tell you, it can be done. Her leaders helped with ideas and support and her trip meant even more knowing she had done it with the support of the community! This is a WONDERFUL program that my daughter has been lucky to participate in!

My son also received this "invitation only" letter to go to the informational meeting hours away from our home. We went. The cost was through the roof. Also, I attended several Amway conventions in the 1980's and this hig intensity rah-rah manic program they put on was very similar to that, made me very uncomfortable.

Years later, my daugther wanted to go with her school on a trip put on by Explorica. She went. We loved it and you can go to that site and check out all the summer trips they offer kids - this year's is to South Africa! And the cost is less than P2P. I highly encourage parents to check out other options. I have also received letters for all three of my kids telling me they were "selected" to be in the "who's who in high school" book - another rip-off.

These companies write these letters in such a way to make the kids feel special, when in fact, they send them to everyone! Beware do your research!

This program obviously counts on the pride on students that are told that they have been selected to particpate in these expensive trips. This is just a front. My daughter has been selected and while she was obviously proud of the selection and interested in going to Australia, we wondered who could have recommended her. Well, we wonder no more after our cat was also invited to go on a trip. This organization must have bought some mailing list somewhere and makes people believe they have been individually selected. Much like some SPAM we all get daily in our email. And after a little research, we also noticed that this is a for profit business quoted on NASDAQ.

The people to people ambassador program I believe is a wonderful opprotunity for any child to attend. But with all the info that has been sent, can ANYONE tell me the final cost that it is for a child to go to New Zealand and Australia? I have been reading up on all the comments and would still love to send my daughter, but I would like some in-put from others that have went.

Thank you for your time.

Melissa

My daughter received an invitation to join the 2007 trip. I came across this website while researching and have decided not to send her. What stands out to me the most is the attitude of the people (especially the children) responding. I cannot see allowing my daughter on a trip with others who respond with so much anger to someone's complaint about a company. The true circumstances of the trip, whatever they are, to me do not warrant the anger coming through the responses of those defending P2P nor their (what I believe to be) attacks on the woman or her daughter. We teach our daughter to treat others with respect, especially her elders and to not judge something she has not been involved in. If this is the attitude these children have learned, then I know I don't want my daughter attending.

After reading the information provided I have a solution to problems in the future.

Do not send a minor child out of this country or even the state you live in with a group that, and I quote from their website, "choose teacher leaders in much the same way we select Student Ambassadors: through applications, recommendations and interviews."

What type of background check is done? If any? Nobody seems to know how their child was selected any "myspace stalker" could enroll their prey. Their honored parents decide to sent the innocent, excited child. Meanwhile, "myspace stalker" enrolls him/herself to be a teacher leader...far fetched, yes, but I seem more far fetched in my own backyard.

The best flag this is a "ripoff" is the $2500 to sent a 12 year old to Yosemite National Park!! The whole family could have gone for that price. My daughter is invited to go out of this country. Sounds exciting but an estimate of $6000 is ludicrous!

I have never researched travel abroad, but I googled "average cost travel United States to London, England" and got $1,229 including airfare, hotel and guide. Double that and there is still more than half of the estimated $6000 left over. I am sure my girl would love to shop in Paris, France with her Mom while exploring the culture of the European Country.

If the P2P program has run for over 50 years it is a wonder this Mom is the only one to question the safety of children traveling with strangers and the amount of money to do it. Even if "education" based "tuition" is involved, the best way to teach your child is for YOU to Teach Your Child!! Be smart, be safe, protect your child!

To the great Mom who posted the original complaint, 5 years have passed since your warning to parents about your lovely daughter's experience and I want you to know it raised a lot of questions that I was blinded to due to honor of my daughter "being invited", or selected, however you look at it, is isn't cheap.

It's a RIPOFF! My mother would tell me, "Honey, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, then it's a duck."

Kami -
You responded well to each and every negative response to the original post. However We missed your personal experience in this matter.

In 1988 my older brother raised funds and went on the people to people trip to Australia, New Zealand and the Figi Islands. They had to evacuate the Figi Islands because of civil unrest that was occuring then. Life happens. He loved every minute of the trip.

The young lady in the original post may have had a terrible experience, may have been homesick, or something else personal may have occured. The counsler may have been a real jerk or may have been realalistic.

My neighbor across the street is a foreign PTP home provider and had both of their boys in the program. They all speak highly of their experience and look foward to helping other foreign students enjoy their trips to the U.S. in the future.

In any case I will be sending my own daughter this coming summer to Ireland and the UK. Your rebuttal really had no meaning to this discussion.

I don't want to take away from the fact that the young lady had a terrible time. We simply don't know the details and perhaps even her mother doesn't either. I certainly can't say what occured on the trip. However I can speak for the wealth of positive input I have recieved from kids who participated and from their parents.

Well, I am a 15 year old 10th grader attending Rossevelt High School, enrolled in the Design and Technology Academy. When I recieved this letter, i was happy and thought that this trip would be a good experience. The letter invited me to the 2007 England and Wales trip. It also said that this was apart of the same company that distributed the PSAT test scores and I thought that I had gotten in by that since I got relatively high scores. But I knew three other people who had gotten even better scores than me and they had not even heard of this. Nontheless, I thought by their official looking site and letter, they were legit. But after reading these many statements, I feel that I will not be going to the informational meeting.

The problem with sites are you never know who is making the comment. All these comments made about how good P2P is could have been made by the same person. Who would know? So it is agreeable that the only trustworthy people who make comments are those who are actually bashing P2P since no one would bash their own company. And I feel that you should get a refund since your daughter did not stay the whole trip. I feel that Eisenhower had a good idea when making this program, but it is a company nonetheless and it wants to make money. Also, your case about your daughter is not quite strong enough. Perhaps if you had eyewitness such as other students who were present when the leader was rude and perhaps if some other students from the trip also testified that the leader was apathetic and a jerk then this would be stronger. But with just the word of a mother and daughter, I'm afraid that big business will win.

My son went on a People to People trip the summer of 2004. Although he himself didn't suffer too many of the things his co-travelers did, some of the incidents reported from the trip were pretty bad. The parents of our delegation of students sent the People to People organization a nine-page letter outlining the specific issues, with suggestions. We received little response from the organization. The little response from the organization challenged the accuracy of our information. I wonder how many people would have sent their children (and money) on this trip had they known that "accommodations" included sleeping on the floor of a hotel room (because there weren't enough beds in the room). Or, that leaders on the trip refused to accompany a child back to their last stop (within 15 mins) to retrieve a missing digital camera, even though their tour bus passed by the site again minutes later.

I am only writing this now because our daughter has just now received an "invitation" to go to Australia next summer. I would have to think really hard about even considering it. I know that People to People could not have lasted 50 years with trips like the one my son was on, but it's in the interest of full disclosure that people know the full story.

I fully agree with another poster that the trips are billed as "special" and "by invitation only". Well, many, many children I know get these letters every year, and not a single person knows who has "nominated" them. In fact, my daughter "nominated" herself, just to get a letter sent to her! The trips are pretty expensive, and yes, the informational meeting is a "rah-rah" session.

Our group had duly met monthly with our specific leader, but she had a "Jekyll and Hyde" transformation on the trip - she was very sweet when she met the parents, but she was much different when it was just the kids!

In whole, I think the programs are probably pretty decent, but a bad batch of leaders can really ruin a trip. I think that most leaders are probably very caring and very good, but you will find ones like on my son's trip who were pretty much just there to have a free vacation, and didn't want to be bothered with the kids. My son appreciated the opportunity to go, but said later that had we taken it as a family trip, he would've had a better cultural experience overall.

Looking back on the whole incident, I think I was most annoyed by the lack of response from the People to People organization to our letter. It was unprofessional of them to dismiss our letter without fully investigating our issues, and responding to our suggestions for improvement.

I just got back from a People To People trip and no one got hurt or injured, all of the delegation leaders were extremely nice to everyone. I am a 13 year old and I had no problem. I was in Australia for 3 weeks. I talked to my mother all the time and the leaders had no problem with it at all. I went all over Australia and had 42 other kids my age and younger with me. We had kids that were 11 years old on that trip and nothing went wrong at all.

I think that just because your delegation leaders were rude and at time mean to the children it is extremely dispicable to let your persception of them reflect on the entire organization. You shouldn't judge on just one opinion of yours.

I like the People To People Organization. You may have your opinions but I have mine too. And that is my opinion. I am sorry if I have offended you in any way what-so-over

Thank you!!!
Stephanie

My daughter went on a P2P trip when she was 16. I offer the following input for anyone considering this program. You have to read to the end for the "pros":

1. It costs a lot of money -- $4000 and up for 3 weeks. Is it really worth it? The so-called fund-raising ideas are ways to put the lean on your friends and family. We were not comfortable doing this. The company will not tell you the cost unless you attend the meeting, which is a big cheerleading event designed to make the program appear to be selective and special.

2. The promotional materials make it sound as if your child is selected because of their outstanding qualities, but they never tell you how they were nominated. I suspect that as long as you have the money and your kid isn't a young criminal, they'll accept him/her.

3. The employees keep talking about it being a "life changing experience." Not in our experience. Are you different for having taken a 3-week vacation? My daughter enjoyed the trip but came back the same person. Don't believe the hype. She was unimpressed with the home stays. One couple was obviously burned out from having kids there all summer, she said.

4. It wasn't a bad program, and my daughter does reference it on resumes and college applications. They do focus on education -- learning about the country they visit, its economics, government, culture and so forth.

5. If you child is mature enough to be away from home for 3 weeks (or whatever the program you choose), I think the program is fine. You have to know your own child and what his/her reaction is likely to be. I would not send a middle schooler, however, under any circumstances. Too young -- too far away.

6. The organizers do include a detailed itinerary. I was able to leave messages for her at her hotels and she was able to email home.

Amy - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania- Don't insult this woman's intelligence by implying she over reacted. I'm sure they are glad your experience was positive and productive. Her daughter's experience was neither positive NOR productive. P2P knowingly and purposefully MISLEAD parents and REFUSE to answer questions over the phone. They want to get you in there and tell your children all of the wonderful, exciting things they will experience and then basically DARE the parents to tell their kids that they can't afford to go. However, they DO suggest great ways for your child to beg for money like pan handlers on the street but they call it ?fund raising.? How many parents who work full time jobs do you know who can accompany their kids while they pan handle for molah? Also, quit blaming her child for the crappy way she was treated by saying ?Maybe your daughter had a bad experience or she might have just got homesick and wanted to come home.? There is no excuse for being rude, snide or condescending.
Also, the excuse ?The reason the leaders don't like you to call your parents is because it makes the situation so much worse to deal with.? That is supposed to mean what exactly? Are you trying to tell me that P2P doesn't like sharing information to parents about their child's physical and mental well being? I'd like for you to expand on that statement if you wouldn't mind, please.

Julie - Lima, Ohio- You claim to be a delegation leader that is in charge of other people's children and you have the gall to say, ?This mother was not there to see what actually took place. As a teacher, it is all too often that parents believe 100% of what their teenager is telling them. What is the other side of the story??

Pardon me but as a parent there isn't another side to the story until my child is in MY sight and I KNOW she hasn't been harmed. Here's another tidbit of information for you: All too often parent's ignore their children and blindly believe the adults that are supposed to take care of them. I absolutely do believe my daughter 100% over a stranger any day. It's very dangerous to give your child the impression that you don't believe them. Children are perfect long term victims simply because they're afraid if they tell their parents, they won't be believed. I'm horrified that you're a teacher because the blasttitude you have towards children scares the hell out of me.

?Through my travels ALL of my delegates have had POSITIVE LIFE-CHANGING experiences!? Apparently, this woman's child did not have a positive experience; however, I'm afraid it may be a life-changing one indeed.


Anita - Flagstaff, Arizona- You truly sound like a sincere mother and it's wonderful your child has benefited from P2P. Thank you for not attacking her and her daughter.

Lynn - Canandaigua, New York- ?This girl must have had other things going on in her life that could have caused this or was not physically fit for the hike.? If you had read the complaint you would have noticed that she PLAINLY states, ?On the second day my daughter had twisted her knee and when she called that evening she said she was having a good time.? Point me to the written rule where only chubby folk twist their knees. Oh, and exactly why MUST this girl have had other things going on in her life? You've really stumped me on that one?.

?Just because this woman had to go pick up her daughter doesnt (sic) mean the leaders did not care for her it meant she was interrupting the group activities or was very home sick.? How dare she interrupt the group's activities with a twisted knee?

Kimberly - Scarborough, Louisiana- Thank you for being polite and I'm glad your son is having a great experience and I wish him the best.

Joseph - Canal Winchester, Ohio- Insulting the mother and accusing her of not knowing her own child is very self serving, isn't it Joseph? Attacking someone who has a legitimate concern or complaint doesn't the organization you're crusading for look very well at all. Turn your scorn, childish name calling, and unfounded accusations into facts and use your own experience as the meat of your reply. It gives you more credibility.

Ethanie and Richard - Marathon, New York ? I think the editor said it all.


Jessi - Hackensack, New Jersey- ?How Dare You ..I think that this is a completely ridiculous statement.? She's a mother? ?how dare you?? doesn't work on us. ?Not a lot of children get to do what I've been able to do.? Children who has parent's who can afford it can go on these trips until the cows come home.

?Tell me, if the program is so horrible, how could so many children be interested in it every year, especially children like myself who choose to continue the program all throughout their middle school and high school years.? Because you're not paying for it, your parents are.

Angela - Anchorage, Alaska- ?However, it isn't the entire program of PEOPLE TO PEOPLE that is to blame.? Actually, they are responsible for these children. ?Leaders? yanking kids out of lines and telling them to shut up or being hateful to the mother isn't my idea of a very good leader.

Samantha - Corpus Christi, Texas /Brittany S. - Vandalia, Illinois = I'm combining the two of you because I think your personalities compliment each other-
?Not everybody gets this kind of opportunity.? Of course they do. Just visit the web site and nominate someone and ba-dah-bing- you're in.
?You said she was brave, so why should she be scared to hike on a twisted knee?? -
Since when did the pain of a twisted knee equal bravery? Bravery doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot if you can't walk.

Referencing and researching doesn't seem to be your forte either, Samantha otherwise, you would have known that you can't hike on such an injury.

You Rude Person, How Could You Say Something About Such A Wonderful, Peace-loving Program!?? ? Is this supposed to be a joke or do you not understand what an oxymoron is? Clearly, you're confused. ;)

??a trip to a National Park is OBVIOUSLY going to be full of hiking and walking. It DEFINANTLY wasn't(sic) the trip for her, but, perhaps, you just don't like the fact that this program has been creating peace images throughout countries since it was founded...or mayb(sic) you just need anger management...? ? OBVIOUSLY, if they were creating ?peace loving images? to the children they are in charge of THIS thread wouldn't EXISIST! And guess what Brittany? Anger is a natural emotion when a parent believes their child has been neglected. It's called ?mommy senses?- we borrowed the idea from Spider Man and his spidey senses.

Danyelle - Mt. Clemens, Michigan- Thank you for expressing your opinions without slinging mud. Much appreciated.

Kate in Toledo- ?One nasty counselor who has it out for parents doesn't mean the whole program is rotten, but the fact that this parents' obviously rationale and reasonable request to resolve this issue has not been met tells me this is a company to avoid.
And also - interesting note, although there are many different names posted on these replies - many of the spelling errors are the same....curiouser and curiouser.? Yep.

Amy - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania- Don't insult this woman's intelligence by implying she over reacted. I'm sure they are glad your experience was positive and productive. Her daughter's experience was neither positive NOR productive. P2P knowingly and purposefully MISLEAD parents and REFUSE to answer questions over the phone. They want to get you in there and tell your children all of the wonderful, exciting things they will experience and then basically DARE the parents to tell their kids that they can't afford to go. However, they DO suggest great ways for your child to beg for money like pan handlers on the street but they call it ?fund raising.? How many parents who work full time jobs do you know who can accompany their kids while they pan handle for molah? Also, quit blaming her child for the crappy way she was treated by saying ?Maybe your daughter had a bad experience or she might have just got homesick and wanted to come home.? There is no excuse for being rude, snide or condescending.
Also, the excuse ?The reason the leaders don't like you to call your parents is because it makes the situation so much worse to deal with.? That is supposed to mean what exactly? Are you trying to tell me that P2P doesn't like sharing information to parents about their child's physical and mental well being? I'd like for you to expand on that statement if you wouldn't mind, please.

Julie - Lima, Ohio- You claim to be a delegation leader that is in charge of other people's children and you have the gall to say, ?This mother was not there to see what actually took place. As a teacher, it is all too often that parents believe 100% of what their teenager is telling them. What is the other side of the story??

Pardon me but as a parent there isn't another side to the story until my child is in MY sight and I KNOW she hasn't been harmed. Here's another tidbit of information for you: All too often parent's ignore their children and blindly believe the adults that are supposed to take care of them. I absolutely do believe my daughter 100% over a stranger any day. It's very dangerous to give your child the impression that you don't believe them. Children are perfect long term victims simply because they're afraid if they tell their parents, they won't be believed. I'm horrified that you're a teacher because the blasttitude you have towards children scares the hell out of me.

?Through my travels ALL of my delegates have had POSITIVE LIFE-CHANGING experiences!? Apparently, this woman's child did not have a positive experience; however, I'm afraid it may be a life-changing one indeed.


Anita - Flagstaff, Arizona- You truly sound like a sincere mother and it's wonderful your child has benefited from P2P. Thank you for not attacking her and her daughter.

Lynn - Canandaigua, New York- ?This girl must have had other things going on in her life that could have caused this or was not physically fit for the hike.? If you had read the complaint you would have noticed that she PLAINLY states, ?On the second day my daughter had twisted her knee and when she called that evening she said she was having a good time.? Point me to the written rule where only chubby folk twist their knees. Oh, and exactly why MUST this girl have had other things going on in her life? You've really stumped me on that one?.

?Just because this woman had to go pick up her daughter doesnt (sic) mean the leaders did not care for her it meant she was interrupting the group activities or was very home sick.? How dare she interrupt the group's activities with a twisted knee?

Kimberly - Scarborough, Louisiana- Thank you for being polite and I'm glad your son is having a great experience and I wish him the best.

Joseph - Canal Winchester, Ohio- Insulting the mother and accusing her of not knowing her own child is very self serving, isn't it Joseph? Attacking someone who has a legitimate concern or complaint doesn't the organization you're crusading for look very well at all. Turn your scorn, childish name calling, and unfounded accusations into facts and use your own experience as the meat of your reply. It gives you more credibility.

Ethanie and Richard - Marathon, New York ? I think the editor said it all.


Jessi - Hackensack, New Jersey- ?How Dare You ..I think that this is a completely ridiculous statement.? She's a mother? ?how dare you?? doesn't work on us. ?Not a lot of children get to do what I've been able to do.? Children who has parent's who can afford it can go on these trips until the cows come home.

?Tell me, if the program is so horrible, how could so many children be interested in it every year, especially children like myself who choose to continue the program all throughout their middle school and high school years.? Because you're not paying for it, your parents are.

Angela - Anchorage, Alaska- ?However, it isn't the entire program of PEOPLE TO PEOPLE that is to blame.? Actually, they are responsible for these children. ?Leaders? yanking kids out of lines and telling them to shut up or being hateful to the mother isn't my idea of a very good leader.

Samantha - Corpus Christi, Texas /Brittany S. - Vandalia, Illinois = I'm combining the two of you because I think your personalities compliment each other-
?Not everybody gets this kind of opportunity.? Of course they do. Just visit the web site and nominate someone and ba-dah-bing- you're in.
?You said she was brave, so why should she be scared to hike on a twisted knee?? -
Since when did the pain of a twisted knee equal bravery? Bravery doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot if you can't walk.

Referencing and researching doesn't seem to be your forte either, Samantha otherwise, you would have known that you can't hike on such an injury.

You Rude Person, How Could You Say Something About Such A Wonderful, Peace-loving Program!?? ? Is this supposed to be a joke or do you not understand what an oxymoron is? Clearly, you're confused. ;)

??a trip to a National Park is OBVIOUSLY going to be full of hiking and walking. It DEFINANTLY wasn't(sic) the trip for her, but, perhaps, you just don't like the fact that this program has been creating peace images throughout countries since it was founded...or mayb(sic) you just need anger management...? ? OBVIOUSLY, if they were creating ?peace loving images? to the children they are in charge of THIS thread wouldn't EXISIST! And guess what Brittany? Anger is a natural emotion when a parent believes their child has been neglected. It's called ?mommy senses?- we borrowed the idea from Spider Man and his spidey senses.

Danyelle - Mt. Clemens, Michigan- Thank you for expressing your opinions without slinging mud. Much appreciated.

Kate in Toledo- ?One nasty counselor who has it out for parents doesn't mean the whole program is rotten, but the fact that this parents' obviously rationale and reasonable request to resolve this issue has not been met tells me this is a company to avoid.
And also - interesting note, although there are many different names posted on these replies - many of the spelling errors are the same....curiouser and curiouser.? Yep.

Amy - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania- Don't insult this woman's intelligence by implying she over reacted. I'm sure they are glad your experience was positive and productive. Her daughter's experience was neither positive NOR productive. P2P knowingly and purposefully MISLEAD parents and REFUSE to answer questions over the phone. They want to get you in there and tell your children all of the wonderful, exciting things they will experience and then basically DARE the parents to tell their kids that they can't afford to go. However, they DO suggest great ways for your child to beg for money like pan handlers on the street but they call it ?fund raising.? How many parents who work full time jobs do you know who can accompany their kids while they pan handle for molah? Also, quit blaming her child for the crappy way she was treated by saying ?Maybe your daughter had a bad experience or she might have just got homesick and wanted to come home.? There is no excuse for being rude, snide or condescending.
Also, the excuse ?The reason the leaders don't like you to call your parents is because it makes the situation so much worse to deal with.? That is supposed to mean what exactly? Are you trying to tell me that P2P doesn't like sharing information to parents about their child's physical and mental well being? I'd like for you to expand on that statement if you wouldn't mind, please.

Julie - Lima, Ohio- You claim to be a delegation leader that is in charge of other people's children and you have the gall to say, ?This mother was not there to see what actually took place. As a teacher, it is all too often that parents believe 100% of what their teenager is telling them. What is the other side of the story??

Pardon me but as a parent there isn't another side to the story until my child is in MY sight and I KNOW she hasn't been harmed. Here's another tidbit of information for you: All too often parent's ignore their children and blindly believe the adults that are supposed to take care of them. I absolutely do believe my daughter 100% over a stranger any day. It's very dangerous to give your child the impression that you don't believe them. Children are perfect long term victims simply because they're afraid if they tell their parents, they won't be believed. I'm horrified that you're a teacher because the blasttitude you have towards children scares the hell out of me.

?Through my travels ALL of my delegates have had POSITIVE LIFE-CHANGING experiences!? Apparently, this woman's child did not have a positive experience; however, I'm afraid it may be a life-changing one indeed.


Anita - Flagstaff, Arizona- You truly sound like a sincere mother and it's wonderful your child has benefited from P2P. Thank you for not attacking her and her daughter.

Lynn - Canandaigua, New York- ?This girl must have had other things going on in her life that could have caused this or was not physically fit for the hike.? If you had read the complaint you would have noticed that she PLAINLY states, ?On the second day my daughter had twisted her knee and when she called that evening she said she was having a good time.? Point me to the written rule where only chubby folk twist their knees. Oh, and exactly why MUST this girl have had other things going on in her life? You've really stumped me on that one?.

?Just because this woman had to go pick up her daughter doesnt (sic) mean the leaders did not care for her it meant she was interrupting the group activities or was very home sick.? How dare she interrupt the group's activities with a twisted knee?

Kimberly - Scarborough, Louisiana- Thank you for being polite and I'm glad your son is having a great experience and I wish him the best.

Joseph - Canal Winchester, Ohio- Insulting the mother and accusing her of not knowing her own child is very self serving, isn't it Joseph? Attacking someone who has a legitimate concern or complaint doesn't the organization you're crusading for look very well at all. Turn your scorn, childish name calling, and unfounded accusations into facts and use your own experience as the meat of your reply. It gives you more credibility.

Ethanie and Richard - Marathon, New York ? I think the editor said it all.


Jessi - Hackensack, New Jersey- ?How Dare You ..I think that this is a completely ridiculous statement.? She's a mother? ?how dare you?? doesn't work on us. ?Not a lot of children get to do what I've been able to do.? Children who has parent's who can afford it can go on these trips until the cows come home.

?Tell me, if the program is so horrible, how could so many children be interested in it every year, especially children like myself who choose to continue the program all throughout their middle school and high school years.? Because you're not paying for it, your parents are.

Angela - Anchorage, Alaska- ?However, it isn't the entire program of PEOPLE TO PEOPLE that is to blame.? Actually, they are responsible for these children. ?Leaders? yanking kids out of lines and telling them to shut up or being hateful to the mother isn't my idea of a very good leader.

Samantha - Corpus Christi, Texas /Brittany S. - Vandalia, Illinois = I'm combining the two of you because I think your personalities compliment each other-
?Not everybody gets this kind of opportunity.? Of course they do. Just visit the web site and nominate someone and ba-dah-bing- you're in.
?You said she was brave, so why should she be scared to hike on a twisted knee?? -
Since when did the pain of a twisted knee equal bravery? Bravery doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot if you can't walk.

Referencing and researching doesn't seem to be your forte either, Samantha otherwise, you would have known that you can't hike on such an injury.

You Rude Person, How Could You Say Something About Such A Wonderful, Peace-loving Program!?? ? Is this supposed to be a joke or do you not understand what an oxymoron is? Clearly, you're confused. ;)

??a trip to a National Park is OBVIOUSLY going to be full of hiking and walking. It DEFINANTLY wasn't(sic) the trip for her, but, perhaps, you just don't like the fact that this program has been creating peace images throughout countries since it was founded...or mayb(sic) you just need anger management...? ? OBVIOUSLY, if they were creating ?peace loving images? to the children they are in charge of THIS thread wouldn't EXISIST! And guess what Brittany? Anger is a natural emotion when a parent believes their child has been neglected. It's called ?mommy senses?- we borrowed the idea from Spider Man and his spidey senses.

Danyelle - Mt. Clemens, Michigan- Thank you for expressing your opinions without slinging mud. Much appreciated.

Kate in Toledo- ?One nasty counselor who has it out for parents doesn't mean the whole program is rotten, but the fact that this parents' obviously rationale and reasonable request to resolve this issue has not been met tells me this is a company to avoid.
And also - interesting note, although there are many different names posted on these replies - many of the spelling errors are the same....curiouser and curiouser.? Yep.

I received a letter from this organization just today. Due to the original post I will not consider this program.
I am happy that so many of these people report positive experiences.
However I am concerned with the original posting and the responses are not responsive to that post. OBviously people who like to talk about themselves since they cannot respond to the actual post.

Firstly, Ed your comparative was comical. And true.

Secondly, since the early 70's, we have not accepted those small minded, smarmy mouthed idiots who like to play blame the victim. You can be categorized with those who blame a woman for being in the wrong place and deserving to be raped. And you're bad, rotten through and through you people are.

If this child wasn't old enough to go the offer should not have been made. Injuring her knee hardly makes her a villian of any kind. It means she had an accident.

One nasty counselor who has it out for parents doesn't mean the whole program is rotten, but the fact that this parents' obviously rationale and reasonable request to resolve this issue has not been met tells me this is a company to avoid.
And also - interesting note, although there are many different names posted on these replies - many of the spelling errors are the same....curiouser and curiouser.

Have a great day;

Kate in Toledo

My daughter has beed invited to attend People to People this year in Australia. I am a little nervous but at the same time I can see the excitement in my baby's eyes. Since she was five years old she was slowly learning to be away from us her family. She would spend the night over at friends homes (people we know very well) and go camping with the girl scouts. We did have talks about touch (if you know whar I'm talking about)etc.

People to People will open the doors for our children and the world around us. This will enable our American children to learn about other culture and help them grow into responcible citizen.

I'm sorry to know that your child has had an awful experience, but not everyday we are on a pave road, somedays the road is bumpy. In other words life is a chance. I believed and prayed that my daughter and the other children will be in good hands. I have all the faith in the deligates and leaders. We are on one planet lets make peice with each other.

Last year I was a p2p student ambassador to the 2004 Exploring Australia trip and it was AWESOME!!! I can't belive that you would say this about this program. Just because your daughter had a terrible time that doesn't mean that every leader and trip is like the one your daughter was at. My trip was awesome and I had great leaders that cared about your safty. So I would recommend this program to anyone!!
I'm sorry that your daughter had such a terrible time!

I went to Australia last year and the tuition was $4,875. But you have to buy accessories for the trip, such as luggage and other things, and you have to have at least $500 to use on the trip, using a credit card/cash/travelers cheques. We ended up paying about 6,000 in all. You may pay less, about 5,400 due to the application fee, which isn't included in the tuition and a passport fee is not included.

My son just received an "invitation" from P2P to travel to Australia for 19 days in 2005.
It would be quite considerate if the invitations included an estimated cost of trip. If the cost is simply out of our reach I'd like to know now rather than attend a meeting with our son and find out then.
If anyone has been on the trip I'd appreciate a ball park figure on costs.

In July of 1999, it was the summmer before my 7th grade year in school, I traveled with People to People Student Ambassadors program to Yosemite National Park and the Headlands Institute in San Fransico. As I'm sure many of you remember that month, during my stay there, Joie Armstrong (an employee of Headlands Institute) was brutally murdered at her cabin in Yosemite. As middle schoolers, this was a very difficult experience for us and our parents being separated by so many miles with a serial murder on the loose. Yet, I do appauld the People to People instructors, for taking us out of the area to a YMCA to stay until the police had apprenhended the killer. Even though it was a little scary, it was one of the best times of my life visiting that area and recommend it to everyone.

In July of 1999, it was the summmer before my 7th grade year in school, I traveled with People to People Student Ambassadors program to Yosemite National Park and the Headlands Institute in San Fransico. As I'm sure many of you remember that month, during my stay there, Joie Armstrong (an employee of Headlands Institute) was brutally murdered at her cabin in Yosemite. As middle schoolers, this was a very difficult experience for us and our parents being separated by so many miles with a serial murder on the loose. Yet, I do appauld the People to People instructors, for taking us out of the area to a YMCA to stay until the police had apprenhended the killer. Even though it was a little scary, it was one of the best times of my life visiting that area and recommend it to everyone.

In July of 1999, it was the summmer before my 7th grade year in school, I traveled with People to People Student Ambassadors program to Yosemite National Park and the Headlands Institute in San Fransico. As I'm sure many of you remember that month, during my stay there, Joie Armstrong (an employee of Headlands Institute) was brutally murdered at her cabin in Yosemite. As middle schoolers, this was a very difficult experience for us and our parents being separated by so many miles with a serial murder on the loose. Yet, I do appauld the People to People instructors, for taking us out of the area to a YMCA to stay until the police had apprenhended the killer. Even though it was a little scary, it was one of the best times of my life visiting that area and recommend it to everyone.

In July of 1999, it was the summmer before my 7th grade year in school, I traveled with People to People Student Ambassadors program to Yosemite National Park and the Headlands Institute in San Fransico. As I'm sure many of you remember that month, during my stay there, Joie Armstrong (an employee of Headlands Institute) was brutally murdered at her cabin in Yosemite. As middle schoolers, this was a very difficult experience for us and our parents being separated by so many miles with a serial murder on the loose. Yet, I do appauld the People to People instructors, for taking us out of the area to a YMCA to stay until the police had apprenhended the killer. Even though it was a little scary, it was one of the best times of my life visiting that area and recommend it to everyone.

I am a past and present student ambassador with P2P, and I owe my last three years to them...I have missed the last two 4th of July's for excellent trips to 6 diff. countries, and saw the wonderful sites from an airplane,, and I am VERY glad I did. The way it sounds...your daughter wasnt mature enough and/or not ready to go off on her own... a trip to a National Park is OBVIOUSLY going to be full of hiking and walking. It DEFINANTLY wasnt the trip for her, but, perhaps, you just don't like the fact that this program has been creating peace images throughout countries since it was founded...or mayb you just need anger management...

Well I'm sorry your child had such a bad time over there. But just because the particular leader might not have been acting like she should have, that does not make the whole People to People program bad. I am going to Australia for 20 days this year and I leave next Monday. Although it is my 1st time, I know one of the delegation leaders that has done this before prior to getting invited (she was my kindergarten teacher). Of course, being me, I researched the program and I asked some of my friends what they thought about it and how their trip went. The program is awesome!!! Not everybody gets this kind of opportunity. Your child may have been gung h*o for it at first but you should have talked to her if she did not seem as confident BEFORE boarding the flight! I think you were negligent to not research this program and find out information about it. She may also have gotten homesick and therefore made excuses for you to pick her up. You were NOT there so you do not know what happened exactly. And if you got second opinions from friends she should have made during her part in the program, you may have gotten the full story instead of chew out the leader for saying she still had to hike. You said she was brave, so why should she be scared to hike on a twisted knee? But the program is great and it is a life-changing experience. It will change the way you think about life in general. It is not a rip-off regardless of the money paid. If you read the cancellation part in the booklet that you were given at the information meeting, you would see how much you would have been refunded if you had cancelled it if you had talked to your daughter and seen if she got any less confident. They do not give refunds if you had traveled in the group so dont ask for one because you will not get anything. I think People to People is awesome and one bad experience does not make the program bad and horrible.

I attended a People to People trip to 6 countries in Europe in 1989. It was an awesome opportunity to see the world and stay with families in foreign countries, sharing cultures. It made me a better adult - no doubt about it. The ability to be able to see that others are different but not better or worse for it is something many people never learn to do.

We were safe and watched over by our teachers.

It is unfortunate that the student in California had a bad time and twisted her knee. However, it isn't the entire program of PEOPLE TO PEOPLE that is to blame.

How dare you try and say that the People to People program is a rip-off. I've been going on these trips for four years now and I don't appreciate you trying to make other people think this program is horrible. I understand that your daughter had a bad experience, and yes, that's horrible, but I've had my bad experiences too. In fact, last year I was in a situation where my delegation hooked up with another delegation and the leaders from the other delegation were horrible. Did I let that spoil my fun?? No, of course I didn't. I would never let that kind of bad experience turn me away from a great experience in general.

Not a lot of children get to do what I've been able to do. I've been to Australia twice, England,Ireland,and Wales, this summer I will be traveling to Greece,Italy,France,and England, and in December I'll be going off to Antarctica. Tell me, if the program is so horrible, how could so many children be interested in it every year, especially children like myself who choose to continue the program all throughout their middle school and high school years. You need to realize that what happened to your daughter rarely happens and you shouldn't be blaming the organization.

What you should have done is called up Spokane and complained about your daughter's leaders. Give this program another chance, I highly doubt you'd be disappointed with sending your daughter again, and if you don't want her going with a delegation from your county, send her with a different one. This program has truly made a big difference in my life, and I know if you give it one more chance, it can change your daughter's life too.

Our son has traveled with People to People Student Ambassadors for the past three years. In 2000 he traveled to England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales; in 2001 he traveled to France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium; in 2002 he traveled to Australia. He was 12 on his first trip and just finishing the sixth grade. Our 12 year old daughter traveled in 2002 with her brother to Australia. Our children held many fundraisers and financed their own trips. Babysitting, collecting cans and bottles, dog sitting, refereeing soccer games, mowing lawns, raking lawns...the list of activities go on that provided funds for these life changing trips.

We, as parents, attended each and every meeting with our children, took notes, asked questions, volunteered to help, spoke with the leaders, investigated the organization, leaders, accomodations, home stay families and were actively involved as a family in this experience. The children learned about money, time management, public relations, kindness and understanding of others and other cultures, peer relationships, and so much more. They were required to do research before the experience. At the conclusion of each trip each child did further research and submitted journals and final papers to obtain high school and university credit. At this point our son has 3 college credits and our daughter has one and they have barely begun high school.

In addition to the travel experience, they have each returned with a knowledge and understanding of other cultures that can only be obtained through first hand experience. They have shared these experiences throughout their home community and extended communities and have hopefully done their part in contributing to world peace by carrying through with the mission of People to People Student Ambassadors....Peace Through Understanding.

During each of the trips that our children have been on with People to People , minor incidences of illness or injury have occurred with other members of their delegations and each time the headquarters from Spokane called each and every parent to advise us of the situation and to tell us what actions were being taken. For example, one incident was that another child in the delegation contracted pinworms and as a precaution the entire delegation was treated and follow-up care was provided and PAID FOR by People to People. After the treatment had been administered to each child, Spokane again called each and every parent to advise us of the updated conditions of the delegation. ABOVE AND BEYOND, in our opinion.

Our son and daughter will be travelling agian this summer to Italy and they are once again working all kinds of jobs to finance their trips.

It is unfortunate that a child was injured and the care provided for her was not satisfactory to her parent. We, as parents, tend to be protective of our children. However, in our years of experience with People to People we have had no similar experiences or heard of any similar experiences. This organization has allowed us to provide for our children opportunities that they would not otherwise have had. Please do not judge this fine organization by one leader and one experience. Do your own COMPLETE research, become actively involved in your child's experience, ask questions and if you have a concern, direct it to the proper chain of command within the People To People organization. Thanks People to People for all the fine experiences you provide for young people to celebrate the greatness of the United States of America!! Keep up the Good Work!!!

The People to People Student Ambassador Program is the best international experience you can provide for your child. My 12 year old son traveled to Australia for 16 days during summer 2002. He returned with a wealth of new experiences, an incredible increase in maturity, a broaded sense of the world and ideas for ways he can make a difference. He has used these experiences to continue his involvement in many other international and cultural issues since returning.

First, you do not send a 12 year old on a trip 17 time zones away without doing research. When my son said he was interested in the trip, I dissected this program from top to bottom.

We met with representatives of the program. We interviewed other parents and kids who had previously traveled with the organization. We obtained an itinerary for the trip and researched the hotels they would stay in, how medical care and security would be provided, the food they would eat, the events they would take part in, and much more.

One of the most important things we did was to attend every meeting. We intentionally arrived early at the regular meetings and also stayed late so we could meet the chaparones personally, not once, but at every meeting over the 9 month preparation period. We volunteered to do a variety of support funtions, also so we would be on a first name basis with the counselors. As with any service, the organization can be top notch, but you are actually obtaining a service from the individuals who work for it.

In my opinion, the person who filed this complaint is more interested in getting her money back than anything else. My guess is that she did not research the program adequately. It is easy to see she did not bother to get to know the counselors either, or she would not have had the problems described above. It is expensive. Our son's trip was $4,000. We ate more than one tasty bean dinner to finance it. We are eating a lot of beans and spaghetti again this fall so he can go to Europe next summer.

By the way, this trip was hard on our son. He was exhausted when he returned. There was a lot of travel, not just to get there, but also after they arrived. There was packed itinerary every day, not to mention the kind of jet lag crossing 17 time zones provides. Sometimes it was physically challenging. But, he was not there to build sand castles on a beach for two weeks. He was there as an Ambassador of the United States. He was there to see a cross section of the culture, government, geography, wildlife and economy of an entire continent. He did all of that and more.

I think you will have to look for a long time to find anyone else who would describe the experience this person did above. I think you have to ask yourself if this parent may have been the negligent party by not getting to know the people who would be responsible for her daughter on this trip, and quite possibly for not knowing her daughter or her capabilities very well either.

Thanks.

My son just returned in July from a 16 day trip to New Zealand and Australia. He had a fantastic time and had nothing but positive things to say about the trip, his delegation and his leaders.

They were the best!!! The experiences he had, the things he learned, and the people he met was an opportunity of a lifetime. It was amazing how much a child can mature in 16 days away from home. BTW, my son called me once during the entire time, NOT because he couldn't, he was having too much fun!!!

I would recommend the People to People experience to anyone who is nominated. My daughter received a letter yesterday about the trip to Montana to Yosemite and hopefully she will be on her way in 2003!!!

Last year I went to the Yosemite and Sanfrancisco trip with people to people! I had a great time! This girl must have had other things going on in her life that could have caused this or was not physically fit for the hike. We only hike about 1 mile a day which is not very much for being a 6-hour hiking trip! I normally do about 6-10!

Just because this woman had to go pick up her daughter doesnt mean the leaders did not care for her it meant she was interrupting the group activities or was very home sick. The daughter might have just made up a lot of excuses for her mother to come.

This year I am going to Australia with People to People and I can not wait!

I wanted to respond to the lady that wrote the negative letter about people to people. My daughter is, as I write this, on her third trip with people to people. In sixth grade she went on her first trip with this organization to Hawaii for 2 weeks.

It was a wonderful experience for her. She came back with such self confidence! I found the organization to be extremely trust worthy. The reason they don't want the kids calling home all the time is because it tends to make them more homesick.

They certainly can call at any time. My daughter's second trip was to England, Ireland, and Wales where she also had a wonderful time and made some lifelong friends. I in no way would allow my daughter to travel with a program that I hadn't checked out thoroughly and trusted implicitely.

She is now on a trip to Australia and New Zealand and having a wonderful time. I'm sorry that the lady in question had such a terrible time with the trip but I felt that people should know that it certainly is not the normal occurance. We intend to send our daughter on a trip every year until she graduates from highschool. There is always a risk with everything but I feel confident saying that the People to People organization goes out of their way to ensure a safe trip for every child involved.

I have been a Delegation Leader with the People to People Program for two years. As a Delegation Leader who has taken middle school students to both Australia and New Zealand, I have to believe that the People to People Program is a WONDERFUL opportunity for America's youth.

This mother was not there to see what actually took place. As a teacher, it is all too often that parents believe 100% of what their teenager is telling them. What is the other side of the story? On the other hand, if the leader did not treat the delegate respectfully, that is not an excuse to condemn an entire organization! As with ANY profession there may be employees who do not do their job properly. But does that make the entire organization "bad"? Should individuals from foreign countries see ALL Americans as liars and cheaters just because Bill Clinton lied to the American public? Well, if so, that is what the People to People Program is all about. For respectful students to show the rest of the world that America is a wonderful country with interesting and unique people!

Through my travels ALL of my delegates have had POSITIVE LIFE-CHANGING experiences! They've met lifelong friends, learned about other cultures and acceptance, and have become better people because of this AWESOME opportunity!

Four years ago I went to Yosemite and San Francisco with People to People Student Ambassadors. I think regardless to the money the trip was worth all of it.

I have never had an experience like it. The reason the leaders dont like you to call your parents is because it makes the situation so much worse to deal with. We also did the game where you leave two minutes after the last person and no one in our whole program got lost.

We also had someone that had a sprained ankle and when we were off hiking there was a leader and at least one other person always there with her. I would recommend anyone to People to People because it was the best time I ever had.

I am actually participating in the overseas program this year to Australia. Maybe your daughter had a bad experience or she might have just got homesick and wanted to come home. I just think you might have overreacted the way you were talking about the program.