by Silva Payne

Created on: November 10, 2009

Overseas travel can be a very important feature of a teen's self development and social experience. The benefits far outweigh the risks in allowing your teen to venture abroad. Knowing how far and at what age is a personal decision that must be made based on your own knowledge as a parent of your child. Financial ability must also be considered, and overseas travel is an ideal way to introduce the concept of working and saving for something you really want to your teen.

For many parents, the idea of letting their teens leave their local neighborhood is scary. Sending them to a foreign country can be beyond many parents' limits of "independence". Foreign countries are full of foreign people, with different customs and cultural practices; exactly the same reason why teens should be given the chance to experience them under supervised conditions as much as possible. If a person only ever travels within a few miles of their birthplace, they can only experience a society from the inside. This gives a sense of security, but can also create a siege mentality in the individual who becomes resistant to change and hostile to anyone who is from the "outside". Spending a little time as an "outsider" in another place can give an invaluable insight into how it feels to be new in a place even only for a few days. To see others in the way you have been seeing them is important to developing empathy for our fellow humans.

Teenagers are notoriously selfish and reluctant to step outside their accepted social circle. Any inclination to go beyond their natural habitat should be encouraged. Many church groups and charities run programmes where help is offered to communities in developing countries. These are wonderful opportunities for teens to experience societies that are less fortunate or wealthy than their own, and at the same time get a feel for hard work and philanthropy.

It has become common over the past decade for European teens, particularly those from the UK, to take a year between compulsory education and further study as a "gap year". This gives them a break from formal education, and many spend the time either gaining work experience in their own country or travelling and working abroad, or a combination of the two.

Businesses often look at the experiences that a potential employee has outside of work to identify individuals with good team-working abilities and those who are willing to take calculated risks. Being able to put "Overseas travel" on your resume and to talk confidently about where you have been and what you enjoyed most and why, are great ways to make yourself memorable at interview. Overseas travel for teens need not be only about helping others, it can be a tool to help themselves into better work and education as well.

Naturally, a single teen backpacking around a war-torn country is not a good idea. Helping your teen plan their trip and encouraging them to take responsible actions to ensure they are as safe as possible is all part of the learning process for them and you. Yes bad things can sometimes happen, but those same things can happen within a few miles of your home. That fear is not enough in itself to justify banning your teen from overseas travel.

If you have never had the experience yourself, perhaps now is the right time to try it. Take an overseas trip with your teen, and see the world from a whole new perspective.

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