Gap Year

[womanofdulwich]

What is this all about? Why are children/parents spending ?2K plus together to go to other countries ? what do the children get out of? what do the countries get out of it? and is someone in the middle making a heck of a lot of money out of it?

I an genuinely unsure about this. I am often asked to give these children money to do this but I am not sure what it goes to? Would it be more beneficial if these children did something in this country- kids and co etc ( may be they do not have the skills needed)?What does everyone else think ? especially if you have been yourself. Do you develop a relationship with wherever you were and continue to go there / raise money/awareness?

[daizie]

No idea, thought it was something posh kids did .

[Santerme]

Peace Corps?

[SeanMacGabhann]

Is this really drawing room material?

womanofdulwich - what is your point?

is it beyond the ken of mere mortals that living in South London one's whole life isn't the sum total of everyone's ambition? That to see the vistas of China and India and Africa can cut through more emotional crap than years of living at home doing a dead end job? That to go and see these places costs money?

("where does the money go to???")

Where do you f***ing think it goes to - air fares, accommodation, food, booze and drugs. Do you never do any of that "here"? Do you think your local grocers or supermarket isn't making money from you? Does your boss look at the wage bill and go "what do they need all this money for????"

You quote 2k as the cost - how long is that for? If it's more than a month or two it sounds like good value in anyone's life to me

[SeanMacGabhann]

not my most diplomatic post ever, granted. But sheesh

[PeckhamRose]

In the antipodes the travel thing is just part of growing up.

They either go on a year's travel in between school and uni, or go between uni and work, or both.

In this country it is not so common, mainly I suppose because we have less money for our kids but also because we don't have that go-for-it attitude those fab Aussies and Kiwis have.

It is an educational thing. Travel is a great educator.

What on earth is wrong with that.

[womanofdulwich]

Perhaps some of you are unaware of the ?2k plus companies that take children to third world countries. Perhaps you have never been approached by these teenagers and their parents.

I think the tone of some of these posts are completely uncalled for. It is not a criticism I just don't know how good these "experiences" are.

[Ladymuck]

Sorry Sean, but I don't think womanofdulwich deserved that.

Apologies WOD, but I too thought it was simply something that children from privileged backgrounds did...and therefore haven't a clue. But, I would have thought that travelling around the world would be beneficial on many levels. However, I think it would depend on the individual and how mature/responsible s/he were. If s/he simply wasted the gap year getting drunk and/or stoned out of his/her head every day, then any perceived benefit might be minimal?

[SeanMacGabhann]

Perhaps wod. Have you a link to any of these companies ? I wouldn't mind a butchers

[SteveT]

womanofdulwich wrote:-

I think the tone of some of these posts are completely uncalled for.

I agree, though Sean is not normally as short tempered as this he is generally a well balanced and mild mannered poster.

It is not a criticism I just don't know how good these "experiences" are.

My youngest daughter took off on one of these treks with the intention of meeting up with around 8 others. When she arrived 4 were about to leave to go in another direction, 2 others went off to stay on a relative's farm, which left her and one other.

That one lost one of her credit cards after a week or so leaving her short of money, which meant my daughter had to bail her out for a few weeks by lending her enough to get by, even so she ended her trek a few weeks early leaving my daughter travelling alone through fiji and Oz which she was concerned about. When she contacted me I suggested she stuck with the programme until she felt she could no longer stand it, then jump on a flight home.

She met up with some others travelling on the same route and continued to finish the fiji and Oz trip. She then went on to meet up with other friends in Thailand. This went well until one ran out of money and so she helped her out financially over the following fortnight so she could complete the trek together.

My daughter has become much more self confident and tends to take things more in her stride since her return. The parents of the young ladies she helped repaid her in full and were eternally grateful for the help and assistance my daughter gave their offspring.

Whether the two grand spent on this trip was worthwhile you will have to judge for your self, but I thought it was an excellent lesson in coping skills and you always pay for experience. I should point out that my daughter self financed this trip by working during her school holidays and weekends for a year or so before the trek.

I hope this post is useful.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Ok.

A teeny retraction here wod. I thought, as per the thread title, you were questioning gap years in general

doing a bit of research you might be talking about companies like i2i? In which case your question makes more sense

This being the case I apologise. Belatedly obviously but hopefully not too late

[womanofdulwich]

Thanks Steve T. I am so pleased your daughter worked beforehand to do this-this is what I thought a gap year used to be. What did she think about it? would she recommend it? A long time ago you could do VSO when you graduated ( or maybe before). Now there are a lot of Gap Year companies that come into schools selling their wares ( Pay to volunteer at hospitals, zoos etc). I would be particularly interested to know about these.Which is what my first post was really angling at.

[SimonM]

VSO was something a few friends of mine did back in the 60's. You could do it, during or after "A" levels, as well as during a university course. Other friends got hard-working holiday jobs then clubbed together to buy a cheap VW camper which they drove across Europe to Moscow and back (when the Iron Curtain was still in place!). I am obviously out of touch with the zeitgeist - which I am not even sure I can even spell - but I find this whole idea of gap year companies quite extraordinary! Part of the fun should be organising it all yourself!

[Jeremy]

womanofdulwich Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I am often asked to give these children money to do this

I don't quite follow the original post. Are we talking about giving money to our own kids to go travelling, or giving money to other people's kids?

[sophiesofa]

I've never heard of children/parents asking for donations to gap years. A lot of my friends had gap years (about 7 years ago now) and they all worked for the summer or a bit longer to save up for the trip and then off they went and had a great time - nout wrong with that. I wish I'd been able to (couldn't because I was very ill then) because I'm quite a shy person and found uni very intimidating and I think the year would have built up my confidence ready for standing on my own 2 feet.

[SteveT]

I would not give my children money to travel with, if they want to go anywhere get the money yourself and go, but do not expect hand outs to enable it to happen, do it yourself or go with out is my view.

[womanofdulwich]

Jeremy- in answer to your question- not my children- but friends have asked on behalf of their children. I am just not sure what this all leads to. They only ask for money when they are doing something which is "volunteering" usually to a third world country. At one time it was they worked hard and went off travelling. Now there is a growing trend to go on projects and I am not sure who benefits from them. I was wondering how much of this money really helps and who it helps? I wonder if the projects they are involved in could be done by people who live there any way and someone is lining their pockets along the way? If the post gap children come back and have some life long commitment to raise awareness to wherever they were then that would make sense. I am sorry I don't think I made myself clear to begin with. It is not the affording the money so much as what actually happens to it that I am unsure of.

[paragon]

More and more companies are making margins on flights and accomodation by offering all in 1/6/12 month trips abroad to work on a project and packaging it up. They are basically "ethical" travel agents selling a products to parents who think it is different than handing over 2k to the kids. I think travelling during a gap year can set you apart from your peers. It is also a great experience before burdening yourself with the huge debts of uni.

If it were my kids, I would research charities on t'internet and find something that they are interested in. Contact them directly and sort out flight and acc. independently of any other company. Try and go with a friend if possible and factor in travelling time after that. Also always following SteveT's laudable principle to make them earn the money themselves.

VSO is still going strong and has a youth programme (up to 25) and an experienced volunteer side also. Programmes like JET are also a good way of going abroad and other than flights they are self-sustainable.

Personally I wouldn't give money to someone who is getting to go on holiday for a year unless I was clear that it would be spent on the project and not on the activites that Sean describes above.

[Jeremy]

Yeah, if it's a proper charity them I'd donate a bit of money towards their flight or something.

But if it's blatantly a year of backpacking/drinking/partying... no way!

[LordshipLovely]

I had a Gap Year between school and uni and did this via a gap year company. They do rip you off a bit to be honest, but what they do give you is a bit of a security blanket for potentially your first big trip abroad somewhere quite overwhelming.

For example, I spent 3 months doing teaching with some others on the scheme, but then after that went off travelling round on my own and felt I was then capable of doing this. It eases you in gently, if you get my drift. I also had quite a bad accident when I was away and had the support network in place to make all the necessary phonecalls etc.

Generally, I think it was money well spent (about half mine, half parents in case you were wondering), although I wouldn't particularly recommend the GY company I went with. There are others which I think are better value and more transparent.

The actual year was invaluable in that the confidence I gained from being independent and meeting new people was huge. I went from being a wallflower to being more of a leader. I learnt to budget, learnt a new language (which opened doors at uni) and I know it sounds like a cliche, but I met people with so little, that it taught me about the value of money.

Yes,there was sex/booze/drugs but you'd be doing that at home anyway, with or without your parents money.

Things have moved on a bit since I went so there are far more options available and things to suit all budgets. There's never going to be a right or wrong answer regarding who pays, it's obviously a compeltely personal choice. I just wouldn't be quite so dismissive of the idea.

[omniprescient]

Is there any evidence of substantial long term gain associated with these gap-year aid projects? The student gains by adding to hes/her personal statement for uni entrance (which as far as I am concerned is the major motivator for all of this) but as far as the donee country is concerned aren't we simply providing a sticking plaster to cover matters which require major surgery? In the meantime aren't we effectively propping up incompetent/corrupt governments and adding to the culture of reliance whilst giving an opportunity to unqualified and generally inexperienced 18 year old to participate in activities which they would legally be banned from doing in their home country? (e.g. working as teachers, medical support staff etc.)

[SteveT]

My daughter found the most useful part was travelling alone. She found out that unless she made an effort she would not meet anyone, being alone meant she had to do it.

When she arrived at uni' she found she could mingle much better and with more confidence with the people she met which put her ahead of the game in 'networking'.

She felt it was the most valuable trip she has made so far.

[gwod]

These are the sort of companies you mean WOD, as far as I understand it, you imput your requirements, (for example get tan, do something worthy to further validate my Oxbridge application, hook up with fit boys from Dulwich College) and they make an itinerary for you (eg Do Tefl course in London, Work in Bogota teaching kids English, Hook up with fit boys from Dulwich College for Carnival in Rio) they then take a cut on any part of that that needs purchasing

http://www.gapyear.com/

http://www.realgap.co.uk/

I agree, hard to imagine the benefit other than having a really good time - I am sure you could do good works and gain confidence in London if that was the driving force of your plans - but I can't blame students for wanting to travel and have fun....I'd like to too!

[LordshipLovely]

I think your ideas are a bit dated gwod. Even 10 years ago when I went, a higher proportion of people in the group had come up through the state sector and it ended up being a good mix. You seem to be applying that only kids from public school go on these things.

I'm not saying that some companies don't rip you off but you only have to apply a bit of common sense to rule them out. And, they are a business for god's sake, they are going to make a profit somehow. But, as I said before, they provide a bit of a safety net if travelling somewhere with little or no infrastructure.

I just think everyone sounds a bit bitter. God forbid someone would want to leave London and go and see the world and do something slightly productive at the same time.

[Brendan]

This whole business is a bit weird. What happened to just saving up some cash from your crap job and getting on a plane? That?s what we did in SA. It wasn?t a ?thing? it didn?t even have a name it was just what people who fancied seeing the world a bit did. You were expected to be robust enough to make your own way and earn your own way too. Otherwise it?s just a holiday. Not travelling.

Although that hasn?t stopped quite a few people I know back home who work in tourism from cashing in by providing cushy ?roughing it? holidays for rich youngsters from Britain.

Not sure how dicking about with a rucksack on your back for a year has become something that you put on a CV though.

*I don?t know it may have changed now. I?m not sure what sort of namby-pamby nonsense the bloody kids get up to these days