School Trip to Morocco

I don't think it's necessarily racist to state facts about what happened to others on trips there (ie. not opinion). You may not like what is being stated, but that doesn't mean it's racist. It's important to recognise that not all Moroccan men are being called unsavoury, just some.

It's not racist to think that it's a terrible idea to suggest taking a group of 13 year olds to Morocco on a trip. I'm remembering school trips myself when I was 13: we were allowed to wander off on our own for hours at a time, which would be a nightmare in the souk.

16/17 years maybe, but not 13 year olds.

Absolutely not.

I've travelled and lived abroad extensively, including Latin America, South East / East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, North Africa etc and the only two places I have ever felt genuinely unsafe in were Cambodia (specifically Phnom Penh) and Morocco, especially (but not limited to) Marrakesh.

Also, £1k? And it's a state school? Realistically, how many people will be able to afford this?

I wouldn't.

I suspect a lot of other parents of DDs will think the same, which means far more boys at this school will get to go on a school trip.

I'd be asking the school if that is acceptable.

Agree with the PP who said they dropped Iceland because of the cost.

I wouldn't take a Year 8 trip to Morocco - girls or boys. They'd struggle with the food for a start and it's a big culture change regarding animal welfare etc. Year 11s maybe, but only if they're (very) good at French.

I am well travelled too but truly never experienced so much jaw dropping agression, sexual harrassment, and down right threatening behaviour in my life.

I went back many years later to try again with my dh. Same.

Appalling.

Proceed with caution.

@AnTeallach - went with a blonde girlfriend to Cairo about 30 years ago - we were mid 20s.

The amount of hassle she got on the streets was ridiculous although the worst offenders backed off after I threatened to belt a couple of them

My 16-year-old niece went on a school trip two years ago for two weeks. She enjoyed it, but had some dodgy experiences with men propositioning her and her friends everywhere they went (she was dressed appropriately, but that didn't stop them). Apparently she even had a few marriage proposals. She also became desperately ill at one stage with food poisoning. Other than those things, she loved Morocco!

@bridgetreilly

Get on to the Foreign Office now and tell them about your amazing safe experience. They'll have changed all the nonsense on there by the morning!

We were there 6 yrs ago.

I went to Marrakech last month and was surprised by how safe I felt. No harassment, either from sellers or sexists. People I was with said it has improved massively in past 20 years. I would let her go. It is amazing!

I took my 3 kids to Morocco when my son was 21 and two daughters were 16 and 18. The girls covered up in long skirts and baggy shirts and still had a ridiculous amount of hassle. One is blonde and blue-eyed and got really upset at men constantly taking photos of her on their phones, wherever we went. It got so bad at one point that the girls opted to stay in the riad one day, rather than face yet more hassle outside.

I'd been before when I was 20, with a blonde cousin, who'd also ended up being massively hassled. Though things had moved on, in that women were much more visible working as police officers, in banks, etc, in our experience they hadn't as far as the treatment of western women was concerned. Sad.

I'm also well travelled, and really did not like Morocco due to the way I was spoken to and treated just because I did not have a penis. It does not mean some one is racist or not well travelled, to dislike a country.

@Goldsand if you haven’t already, please read the Foreign Office advice - high likelihood of terrorist acts against Western tourists, possibility of politically motivated kidnap of tourists, dangerous roads with high fatalities, expectation that young women will dress and behave modestly yet still be harassed. And it’s an earthquake zone. For £1000 too.

www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/morocco/safety-and-security

It would be an absolute no from me. If you are still not sure, ask to see the school’s risk assessment.

I went to Morocco on a school trip for 3 weeks when I was 17! Best time of my life and I ended up deciding to study Arabic at uni because of it! She will be fine x

Google Gov,Uk Morocco.
Read it
Print it out
Bring it the school
Ask The Fool who thought it would be a good idea for their thoughts
Write up their thoughts on how they are going to deal with the problems that are clearly described on the government website.
Circulate the government page and The Fool's responses to all Yr 8 parents.
Do not let your daughter go.

No way would I allow teachers to supervise my DD in Morocco. They would need eyes in the back of their heads to keep a group of young girls safe and secure there.

I've done a fair bit of business work in Morocco - everyone I met down there was really welcoming - the women who worked in our office dressed like Western European women and behaved like people in London.

This is at the top end of the working market though and like many Muslim countries the number of sleazy men hanging around would make me feel uncomfortable about letting my 13 year old daughter go on a school trip there.

I was in Casablanca which isn't a tourist destination like Marrakech but I imagine that would attract more bad people (particularly with drug scene and alleged child sex issues there)

For a grand I would knock this on the head although if it was 5 days trekking in the Atlas I would be much more inclined to let it go

As an aside one of my kids did a school trip to Iceland - loved the scenery but said the food was desperately bad

I was in my late twenties and with DH in Marrakech very modestly dressed, shoulders to ankles covered at all times and got groped by young men twice in three days, once right between my legs while I was using a cash point, DH was standing about ten feet away. Where are they staying and what's the itinerary? We drove down to Essaouira and that was much friendlier, the trek in the atlas mountains was amazing. The owners of the Riad we stayed in were wonderful hosts, but central Marrakech, I wouldn't go back.

After all the diversity and inclusion education that goes on in schools today surely it should stick in the throat that the school has chosen to go to a country where homosexuality is ILLEGAL.

Hardly practising what they preach is it?

@GCAcademic Ah of course, sorry, sleep deprived! 💤

Meh, life isn't safe. She'll learn a lot and her teachers will be there the whole time.

I’m pretty sure that poster was being sarcastic.

@Goldsand Could you offer to go with them? As a parent helper? That way you can chaperone

Inclusive in what way?