To be suprised schools still do French exchanges ?what with the safeguard risks

Maybe you could agree on a different coded word for each day which they have to send you if they're safe. And if they don't send it by 4pm, having been reminded by you, you contact the teacher?

Foreign exchanges transformed my language abilities. They're 100% worthwhile.

Don't be worrying about what they thought.

If I was the hosting mother, I'd just worry that you were hoarding food because you didn't feel comfortable asking for different food and wanted to make sure you had some!

I'd feel very protective of a child who I thought might feel that way in my home, not judgemental.

Did she give you even more food after that, and lots of things she knew you would like?

Skills for life, innit?!🤪

Proper cultural experience.

Exactly.

And there will be many more checks and caution and talks before this kind of exchange nowadays. More forms to fill and children get a lot more support.

It is 50 years ago so I'm not sure I remember everything. But I do remember an afternoon when she had friends round and produced three splendid gateaux and I think I had a piece of all three!

I also remember that their eldest son and his wife had their own self- contained apartment attached to the house and the SIL invited me round for a fabulous ice cream and cherry dessert and a chat.

Actually the family were very kind and took me on a family day out to which their 17 year old son ( my exchange partner) didn't go. I think now they were shocked at how much younger I was and probably did feel protective.

Funny I have never really thought of it like that. I always just cringed at the awkward mistakes I made. Blimey I even managed to lock myself in the downstairs loo by accident and the younger brother had to climb through the window to rescue me!

Lodgers and flat shares are adults who probably meet the people get a vibe for them before they move in.

I note nobody has come back and said they'd be 100% happy with their kid doing the exchange with Bea, in the big posh house 🏠 and the naval officer Dad!

People also used to hitch hike, thats probably more safe than arranging to sleep in the house of a stranger.

Brave you admitting that about your Dad.

I wonder if she was able to tell people at her end.

What a horrible experience for her but I 100% bet that she isn't the only child who what sexually assaulted or abused in their exchange houses.

I can't believe a, they are still happening or b, people are completely writing off the risk because its a good experience!

I can't believe a, they are still happening or b, people are completely writing off the risk because its a good experience!

People are not completely writing off the risk, they're assessing the risk as being very low versus the potential benefits being very high. The same as we do for everything else. Statistically speaking, more people are going to be injured in the car on the way to the airport, than sexually assaulted when they get there, but nobody is suggesting banning exchanges for that reason.

I do think it’s a shame that so many exchanges have been cancelled. Your risk assessment for your child is your decision of course@Newname26 - but I have come to a different assessment (DC16 is going on an exchange in 2 weeks time).

Out where? Why?

When we lived in Paris, we regularly hosted girls who had come from another country to play sport. They didn’t know us and we didn’t know them. All we had was dietary requirements and allergies. These girls used to stay with us from Thursday night until Sunday. We apparently got a reputation as being a good place to stay as we were in Central Paris and were quite relaxed about the girls going out to sightsee with DD1 (and no adults). These girls were aged from 14-17.

Agree completely.

Children and adults are different.

Airbnb is for adults to use and book.

Children are not booking airbnbs for themselves.

And airbnb paid $7 million to a woman who was raped by a man with keys to the flat.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57487970

Their lawyers are good at keeping the stories hushed up.

https://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-faces-thousands-sexual-assault-claims-yearly-report-2021-6

I'm directly responding to the person that said you wouldn't do it as an adult and pointing out that millions of people do share houses with strangers.

Yes and @GingerBeverage has pointed out Airbnb faces thousands of rape claims every year.

People seem to think that being an exchange family who value education is some sort of immunity to sexual predators.

Is it only school drop outs who abuse children?

As I've previously said, it's a matter of risk assessment. The article quoted states that up to 0.1% of stays in AirBnB has resulted in an assault claim. That's one in a thousand. The odds of the same happening on a foreign exchange will be lower given that there are checks on the parents and families, both by the school and by government agencies in each case. One in a thousand is about ten times less than the chance of being injured in a car accident each year, but nobody is suggesting that kids shouldn't be allowed travel in cars. I'm prepared to accept the tiny risk of something happening on an exchange. If others don't that's fine. But what I don't want to see is these trips being banned by those that don't understand statistics and want to stop things that are overwhelmingly positive in the vast majority of cases, because of their own risk-aversion.

Keep in mind how many Airbnb are self contained holiday houses rather than rooms in someone's house. And how few will be single adults.

The only real very quick Google throws up issues on exchange trips in the US.
And Sommerset police did an investigation that lasted 6mth and identified 500 victims of abuse on exchange trips.

But you also have to remember many incidents will never be reported or officially recorded.