School Trip to Morocco

I'd love to see the risk assessment. My DSIS is a HT and I know what her risk assessment was like for much older teens going to India. Taking Year 8s to Morocco is laughable.
I've travelled to various parts of Africa including areas that are more unsafe than Morocco so I'm quite pragmatic about risks but there's no way on earth I'd be taking a Year 8 school trip to Morocco. The only way you could absolutely guarantee their safety would be to have such a restricted visit that they wouldn't get to experience the country at all. I actually can't believe any school in the UK would suggest that location for that age group. Most of the teachers won't even have experience of safeguarding and on-site risk assessing for a country like Morocco. It's completely different from an Iceland trip.

I'm very well travelled (not British) and I loved Marrakesh. There's a lot of racism on these boards. As well as a lot of teacher hate (people really expect teachers to pay to take a group of 13 year olds away?)

Morroco- No
Yr 8- No
Over 1k- No

I’d quite like to visit Morocco but am wary (though I’ve travelled to places like Kenya and India so not entirely unadventurous) and I know my mother would have kittens if I went there. She went on holiday to Morocco in her 20s with a friend who was murdered by a local man she went off with. A very long time ago, but still . .

But I don't think Morocco is the sort of place that I would be happy about my teenage daughter wandering around on her own with her school friends.

She won't be. They're year 8. They'll be supervised all the time.

I thought all this rubbish about foreign school trips was over. It should be. Ridiculous. Pressure on parents and so unnecessary for pupils.

I travel to morrocco frequently. It's fine with a tour

I've been to Morocco a few times and have also travelled all over the Middle East.

I loved most of Morocco - got absolutely no hassle from locals, except in Marrakech.
Ourzazate is in the middle of nowhere and is lovely. I hiked the Atlas Mountains, which was amazing.

However, I'd be wary of going back to the Atlas after the tourists were beheaded in 2018. I don't think I'd be comfortable letting my teen daughter go without me. I'd definitely take my daughter to places like Essaouira, Fes, Meknes, but I'd feel too vulnerable in the Atlas. Could you go on the trip too, as a parent volunteer?

For me that’s far too expensive, so it would be a no.

That said, I think the safety issue is less of a big deal. I’ve lived an worked in North Africa since late 2019 (currently not based in Morocco, but I visit frequently). Honestly these countries rely so heavily on western tourism that the law and order situation is relatively good. She will be safe in a group with a guide and on the tourist track.

My son has just done the 2 week World Challenge Morocco trip and said it was amazing. Their party was about 50% girls and a couple of the parents expressed similar concerns to your own at the first info evening. World Challenge are hugely experienced in running these trips, the young people are never in groups of less than four when they go out to the markets on some of the day trips, and the adults are always within a couple of hundred metres.

I know your trip is a school one but I personally wouldn't worry about the safety aspect, subject to getting the answers to the questions I'd be asking about their plans for safety etc. I think the cost and such a short trip is more of an issue tbh. World Challenge was £2.2k (plus £180 on travel vaccinations and @£300 on kit) for the two weeks of a packed and exciting itinerary. Going for just five nights seems ridiculous - I suspect they're trying to squeeze an international trip in to the curriculum in too short a time to do it justice, and the cost is always going to be disproportionately larger on a shorter trip.

Tbf, tangiers is a shit hole I expect Ceuta to be no different

i wouldn’t want to go back there, as a woman and would be very wary of sending a teenage girl there. I’d want a lot of reassurance

find out much M ore @Goldsand

Oh and not sure if it's been mentioned, but you can actually go skiing in Morocco in the Atlas mountains , and then come down the mountain and sunbathe.

We wanted to return and hike the Atlas mountains, it was beautiful there, but the news about the two women who were beheaded in 2018 put us off.

No way would I let her go. Just not worth the risk.

I went to Marrakech with a female friend a few years ago, we were expecting to get hassled more than we did. We dressed very modestly and got a bit of hassle from men while wondering around the souk, but less than we did when we went to Paris tbf.

But I don't think Morocco is the sort of place that I would be happy about my teenage daughter wandering around on her own with her school friends.

Can't imagine there will be many takers to send their kids to a 3rd world country for a grand, so it'll probably get changed anyway.

I think you should let her go, if she wants to and you can afford it.

BUT: I went to Morocco as a lone female in 2015. I'd already done a decent amount of solo travel before this, to loads of European countries, USA and central Asia, and my time in Morocco felt completely different. The country is awesome but I did have quite a few very unpleasant experiences when dealing with some of the locals, and I was somewhat relieved to leave by the end of it. I was definitely viewed as someone to try to squeeze money out of, by any means possible! However, I don't think a group would receive half as much hassle as I did. As long as the group sticks together, with sensible, streetwise teachers present, I can't see there being any issues, and I expect it would be a really valuable opportunity for your daughter.

Plus camel riding isn’t very ethical. Up there with dolphin swimming in an aqua park.

ninaoutandabout.ca/riding-a-camel-in-morocco/

My dc school have a trip to borneo... hiking and camping for £3k... yeah that's a no!

Both my girls had school trips to Morocco - one in year 8 and one in year 9 (the trip ran every two years). There was an information evening at the school and it all seemed to be very well organised. They had run similar trips before and clearly knew what they were doing.

They were mainly trekking in the mountains but also spent some time in Marrakech. They were well briefed by the school on what to expect and how to behave.

Both had a great time and didn't report any concerns. It was a few years ago though - they are now early and mid 20s - so possibly things have changed since then.

Sounds absolutely fabulous. I would love to do that.

I've been to both countries (and now I live in Japan - jet setter lol).

Iceland is a great choice for a high school visit because it's got loads of geographical features that are are academically relevent (walking along a tectonic plates boundary, hot springs, the absense of trees etc). It's also a very expensive country since a lot of produce has to be imported, so I wonder if that's the reason for the change this year?

Morocco is fun, and depending on the age and maturity of my daughter, I would let her go, but let her know not to talk to any strange men or be alone there (yes, I got talked to the moment my ex went to the bathroom or something). I also got minor food poisioning - and I was vegetarian then so it wasn't meat or fish.

Hmm, now I've just written the above, actually I'm changing my mind lol. I guess I wouldn't let her go. I'd apologise to her, and discuss with the other parents/school to see if it could be changed to somewhere more appropiate. I'm not sure what they'd "learn" in Morocco.

I’ve taken my children to Morocco a couple of times. To be fair we stayed in a resort/hotel which was very safe, but we went out and about in Marrakesh including the beautiful gardens and did camel riding and a mountain trip (booked locally).
We didn’t feel as safe in the main square so we just avoided that area.

I've been to Morocco twice. First time age 21 with a female friend - we were both continually harassed and grabbed at by men in the street, felt disgusting and unsafe, hated it. Second time a decade later went with a boyfriend - was not harassed but basically looked down on, all conversation defaulted to the man, hated that too. I'd never send a teenage girl there.

No flipping way. I say that as someone who grew up on an estate which was 80% Moroccan.
Save the funds for something else.

I had more sexual harassment in Italy than I did in Morocco or Egypt.

not saying it doesn’t happen to others, just my experience, and sadly some men are pigs around teenage girls in every country of the world

@MsTSwift and I agree with you about Kenya, well certainly Nairobi.