Is 11 yrs old too young to travel abroad and learn about the world

[FreakinDJ]

I just bought my 11 yr old a ticket to go with his Mom for a visit in the Philippines.

I don't want him to end up like all the FreepTards scared to go outside the boarders of the USA and looking down on all things they have difficulty understanding.

I'll see if I can scrounge up a few more memory cards so he can take plenty of pictures to present his class when he gets back

[BlooInBloo]

1. Alone? Yes. Accompanied? No.

[FreakinDJ]

2. I did say "With his Mom"

[BlooInBloo]

3. Yep. I answered the question as-stated in subject line, and then as-stated in the body...

Covered all the bases.

[TransitJohn]

4. No.

Think about it...they'll come home with big brand new eyes to look at their own community, and all subsequent communities in which they'll dwell. Plus, it's before the moodiness that full blown hormonal adolescence would add to the experience for the adult chaperoning.

[LSparkle]

6. You forgot the :sarcasm: thingy ... or maybe not? nt

[TransitJohn]

12. ?

no, my post was as stated, it's not too young, it'd be beneficial, and would be a pleasure to be chaperoning on....what did you read?

[LSparkle]

15. Oops ... saw your "No" but forgot the question of the OP ... apologies!

[LSparkle]

5. Fantastic opportunity -- I wish I'd had the same as a young person

The sooner a person realizes there is a world beyond
their own home town, the better. In retrospect, I
think my adolescence might have been more tolerable
if, at the time, I'd realized there was life beyond
the "American high school experience."

[CTyankee]

7. I promised my 13 y.o granddaughter a trip to Rome for her bat mitzvah.

However, she has some emotional issues that I simply don't think I could handle if she melts down while we are in Italy, so I have quietly stopped talking about the trip (even if temporarily). Altho I don't think a trip with me would trigger some if any of the emotional melt downs I have witnesses her having at home, I simply cannot take her to a foreign country where it would be difficult to contain her outbursts. I also think she would be homesick and not enjoy herself.

Hopefully, with her new therapist she will be helped into a better way of maintaining her emotional equilibrium and some day soon we'll be in Rome enjoying the food and the history. I pray for that day to come...

[coffeenap]

18. How about the gift of the trip for a time to be determined?

Then she knows you gave her an unbelievably wonderful gift for her very special celebration!

[CTyankee]

27. That is really what it is. She was my first grandchild and much anticipated and loved.

We have a special bond, even tho she has gotten into some behavior patterns in early adolescence that have gotten her tangled up.

[FreakinDJ]

19. Sorry to hear that

Him and his Mom are packing bags getting ready to leave tomorrow night - they are pretty stoked right now

I did take him aside a few moments ago and discussed his Mother's sense of Honor - what they call "Delicadesa" in the Philippines. I had to warn him from any sort of back-talk or disrespect towards his mother in front of her family. How that would cut her heart like a knife if he was to do that.

He loves his mother very much so I'm hoping for the best

[CTyankee]

29. Thanks for your info. It helps me.

It is hard to negotiate these things where two cultures collide. I'm sure that your boy is ready for this, with all the prep you've given him...

good luck to you and to him...

[Individualist]

8. Not at all since it's with his mom.

It will be a terrific learning experience.

[noamnety]

9. Why would it be too young?

There are other 11 year olds in the Philippines, no?

I was overseas for a bit when my dad had to work in Europe. My kid was born and lived overseas for a few years. I think it's great, and will give him a better understanding of immigration if he spends even a short time where he has to struggle to be understood and others have to accommodate him.

I think you are doing a great thing.

[cobalt1999]

10. My daughters had more stamps on their passports by age 10, than I did by age 30

Not too young at all.

[DrDan]

11. NO NO NO

We MOVED to Ethiopia when our children were 2 and 4 respectively. To Saudi when they were 6th and 8th graders. They both went on to school in Switzerland.

They have grown into mature adults with a world view. They have an appreciation and acceptance of different cultures.

NEVER TOO EARLY!!!!

[TahitiNut]

13. I think kids benefit most after the age of 7. Before then, not much. After then, a lot.

So ... 11 is in 'prime' age territory, imho. By 5th grade they've had geography and stuff. Travel gives them the tactile/kinesthetic 'hook' to learn more ... and like it.

[izquierdista]

17. On the contrary

The younger they are, the easier it will be for them to pick up the language. Children under 7 with extensive exposure to a foreign culture can easily become bi-lingual, as the current President can attest to.

[TahitiNut]

22. No, NOT "on the contrary" ... the question is about a "visit." Travel. NOT residency.

Certainly younger kids will pick up language skills more quickly, but they don't begin to 'frame' the experience and integrate their perceptions until after the age of 7 or so. Furthermore, Obama lived in Indonesia between 1967 and 1971 ... when he was SIX to TEN years old. Children already 'anchored' in a community and with primary schooling begun are equipped with the mental 'tools' to question, explore, challenge, and actively comprehend the experience. When that experience comes early in life, they must 'harvest' that experience in retrospect and without the chance to probe it with the curiosity that's better equipped.

While it's "never too late" (or early) to travel and explore, the maximum intellectual and emotional benefit of travel and being exposed to other cultures comes after the age of seven or thereabouts.

[soothsayer]

14. That's a beautiful thing you're doing! Good to get a glimpse at other cultures and mindsets

Huzzah and safe travels to mom and kid!

[originalpckelly]

16. I don't know, is the broad classy?

:shrug:

[Vickers]

20. My kids have been taking trips to Europe annually since they were 2 years old.

They are turning out fine. They speak English, German, a little Spanish, and a sprinkling of French.

:thumbsup:

Needless to say, their freeper cousins have only been out of the country ONCE...to the Bahamas, on a cruise ship.

:rofl:

[Arctic Dave]

21. Never too young. By the time I was that age I had visited every state west of the Mississippi.

By the time I was in my mid-twenties I had visited most of the continents.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

23. That will be a fantastic experience for him

He's old enough to remember the trip and old enough to note the differences between the U.S. and the Philippines.

[Withywindle]

24. With a parent? DEFINITELY not!

Is his mom Filipina? It sounds like it from your other post in the thread. He definitely should go, to know more about his family and the culture - it's his culture too!

Even if not, I don't think it's ever too early to start letting kids see with their own eyes (and ears, taste buds, noses, etcetera) what a big and fascinating place the world really is. :)

[distantearlywarning]

25. My parents took me all over the world as a child.

By the time I was 14, I had visited most of the South Pacific (that's where they hadn't gone yet by the time they had me).

All the travel was one of the most valuable portions of my childhood.

[comrade snarky]

26. I'll add another voice to the No chorus

11 would be a great time to travel, as has been mentioned it's before the "too cool for you" stage that can make life with a teenager such a joy. The suggestion of a photo journal is a great one. It will bring the experience back for his classmates and give him a memory enhancer for when he's older.

It's an education in the world. I wish I'd have had the chance to go at that age.

[EFerrari]

28. I went to El Salvador for two months when I was that age.

I missed my mom but I had a GREAT time and learned a lot. :hi:

[uppityperson]

30. Sounds like a wonderful experience. Hope he has great time.

[LibertyLover]

31. Not at all

By that age I had already been out of the country several times - mostly to Canada, but also lived a summer in Mexico. And at age 12 I went to Europe for the first time. Hope your son has a wonderful time!

[Stevenmarc]

32. Never too young

[lunatica]

33. By the time I was 11 I had lived in three countries for at least 2 years each

And I traveled alone on an airplane when I was 9. I recommend travel to othe countries, if for no other reason than to learn that other cultures are powerful and understandable. Your son will get to see a country that's very different from this one and it will make him a better person. A better American who has two nationalities and cultures in his blood.

[brettdale]

34. I think

Everyone should travel sometime in their life and see different cultures and places.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

35. Oh heck no

When I was about four or five, I accompanied my parents on a visit to Thailand. While my memories are understandably vague, I still remember the cultural festival that we participated in over there and all its beauty

When I was eight, I accompanied my parents to Europe. I still remember the stopovers in New Delhi, still communist Czechoslovakia, India and Cyprus. I still remember the magical castles we visited in England, Ireland and Scotland and the beauty of the magnificent scenery that we saw throughout the countryside. Almost everything on that trip had a positive lifelong impact on me.

You're doing the right thing with your kid. By exposing him to different countries and cultures and lifestyles, you are doing him a world of good. Well done:thumbsup:

[Summermoondancer]

36. My son has lived in a foreign country EXCELLENT!!!

My son is turning 13 next month and what you are doing is very positive. I took my son out of the country the first time when he was 1 year old. He met his paternal family that is from Honduras. Then when he turned 3 he returned and again when hew as 6. At 6 we lived here for one year and he got to see first hand the real advantages that Americans have since Honduras was still clearly in recovery mode from Hurricane Mitch. I showed him pictures of the hurricane aftermath and we discussed how things were changing and how it was different than in the US. Then we returned a year and a half ago and have lived here since then. The place is amazing. He has learned so much about other cultures and made so many friends..here neighbors make a point of talking to you instead of making a point of avoiding you. I don´t hide him from poverty in fact I have walked him through some of the ghettos here because we don´t live in one of them and I want him to fully understand the advantages he has.
Have his mother take him to normal places and not just tourist areas...tell her not to hide reality from him it can give him greater understanding of how truly lucky he is.