Prepare Kids for Spring Break
Tips for Parents Protecting Their College Students
As beaches will soon be filling up with college students, many parents are fearful for their college students. Prepare your college student before it happens.
Soon hundreds of thousands of college student will be traveling to beaches from Cancun, Mexico to Panama City, Florida for spring break. If you’re the parent of a college student, just the mention of spring break can bring panic as you know that many young people get in trouble and sometimes suffer lifelong consequences on this 24/7 nonstop beach party.
What can you do to protect your child from a spring break disaster? Well, the bottom line is you can warn him about the dangers, but in most cases you can’t tag along or physically him tie his hands. You just have to let go and trust he (or she) will act in the appropriate manner in which you’ve raised him.
Talk about the Dangers of Alcohol Abuse
Is your child under 21? If so, be sure that wherever he's spending spring break the same alcohol rules apply as those in the United States. For example, some international locations, such as Cancun, Mexico allow students as young as 18 to legally use and buy alcohol.
Most parents have probably already warned their kids about the dangers of alcohol. But they probably need to talk about more warning signs of alcohol poisoning. Even if your child is responsible, he may have friends he can protect by looking for signs that they’re in trouble and call 911. Point out that some red lights include slowed breathing, and cold clammy, pale (or bluish) skin, as well as semi-consciousness.
As for all beverages, tell your child to drink only from concealed containers and to never drink out of anything that’s already been opened.
Know Where Your Child is Going
Using the internet, research the area your child says that he’s going, as well as the state or country. While some countries are less lenient, others can have substance abusers thrown in jail for even years. If your child is going to a foreign country, be sure he knows how to communicate simple phrases that will get him needed help such as, “I need a doctor,”, “Help me!,” or, “Call the police.”
Obtain All Information
Before you give your blessing on any spring break trip, be sure to ask your child to give you the names of people he's traveling with as well as names and numbers of hotels. Also ask for names and cell phone numbers for his friends. Even better, give him a prepaid calling card and designate a time where he checks in with you every day.
Offer to Pay for an Alternative Spring Break
Instead of a beach trip, have another plan in motion where you offer to pay for your child to go somewhere else that you feel is safer. Perhaps the enticement of it being financed by you will lead him to change his mind.
Discuss Safety in Numbers
Stress to your child the importance of safety in numbers, urging him to never travel alone. Rather than twos, tell your child to travel in threes, as a third person can run for help if he finds himself in a bad situation. Also, be sure to emphasis how it’s good to always be within eyesight of one another. What’s more, tell him to never accept any offer to go away with someone he's only met for a few minutes.
Finally, perhaps you’ve done all you know to do and you discover your child still sneaks off, not telling you where he is. At this point, you just have to release him and pray for the best. In other words, “let go and let God.”
