If studying abroad....

From a blog about education, the risks of studying abroad..

Tip: the biggest safety risk for US students abroad is going out together with a group of other American students. Yesterday, while doing errands in my neighborhood, I saw a group of American college students sitting together at a cafe. There were about eight of them, and they had that just-landed look. They had to be students at the local university, here as part of a program (lots of those here). I was a few tables away, but couldn’t help noticing what was going on around the students. What they didn’t see were the two guys across the street eyeing them, the four friends sitting at the table next to them talking about the purses the girls were carrying, or the two businessmen next to me discussing the two iPhones two of the guys were playing with. You see, there’s nothing more conspicuous than a group of American students abroad, and if there are those looking for an easy target, well, the groups are the best bet–they’re distracted, they’re speaking English loudly, they are carrying way more than they need, and they aren’t being careful about their cameras or watches or whatever. (Even if someone has bothered to tell them how to behave here, they have a false sense of security because they are always surrounded by other Americans.) I’m not saying that any of my Argentine neighbors had any ill intentions–just that the students were oblivious to the fact that others around them were definitely noticing them and talking about them. And that’s usually not a good thing. At all.
I’ve interviewed nearly 200 students who have studied abroad, and groupers have a FAR higher rate of experiencing crime (theft) than the indies. Anyway. More on this in the book, but suffice it say that those who are paying top dollar for the packages because they think it’s safer need to wake up and see that being a conspicuous American student abroad–in a group of others–is far more dangerous than connecting with locals and learning how to blend in as an indie. So, yeah. Not really recommending the group plans for a number of reasons, but I’m happy to hear your comments.