Spring Break for Teens in Aruba, I Don’t Think So
It is hard enough to allow/watch your teen or young adult travel. They are bound to make some mistakes and trouble can find them. But to not be able to trust the country’s authorities? I know you feel the same way I do when I say: Not this parent – not my kid! I know a lot of teens who like to travel, they’ve been to Europe and a couple are planning another trip. With the competitiveness of the travel industry, you have to wonder what Aruba is thinking? If your teen wants to go somewhere fun, beautiful and beachy this year for spring break, it’s my humble opinion you should cross Aruba off his/her list. I feel it's an issue of trust, I trust Aruba the least because of how the investigation was handled. What do you think?
Try these places instead:
- Cancun Resort Choices
- Disneyland Vacations (around the world)
- Top 10 Spring Break Hot Spots for 2008 from the Student Travel Guide
More: Protecting the Gift : Keeping Children and Teenagers Safe (And Parents Sane)
Comments
Wait a second…the authoritues in Aruba can’t be trusted? What were the American teachers, the so-called chaperones, doing while Natalee was having e jeelo shot sucked off of her stomach? Why was she allowed to leave the bar with 3 young men at such a late hour? I’ve chaperoned many a youth party, and I stay very vigilent, recognizing my responsibility.
Oh - and by the way - did you realize that in Aruba, the government allowed thousands of people to get off of work so they could aid in the search for Natalee? I have never heard of any search party in America or any other country numbering into the thousands. Those people in Aruba were genuinely saddened at the news (and not for worry of their tourism economy, because I know many of them personally).
To blame the entire Aruban government, or it’s country, for this terrible crime, is ludicrous.
Natalee was an 18 year old adult who went to a club with friends. The teachers were there to help the young adults on this senior trip(read ‘after graduation’), but they weren’t there to be 24/7 chaperones, as with underage teens.
Comments 1 and 2 are exactly why many are continuing to clamour for a boycott of Aruba. As long as the Aruban people and officials view Americans merely as commodities and show total disregard for our safety we while are in their country, we Americans need to visit places that do provide more interest in our wellbeing and our safety. Aruba purposely botched the investigation to protect ‘oe of their own’ and to try to sweep the whole thing under the rug so as to not harm their tourism industry. It backfired - their tourism has dropped greatly. Keep up the good work -all of you who have boycotted Aruba!
I have never paid any attention to the “missing white girl” searches or other crime cases on television. But this case caught my attention years ago because it was clearly obvious that the Police and legal establishment were covering-up for Joran because he was the son of a well-connected Judge-in-training. Apparently, on Aruba drugging American tourists with GHB and raping them isn’t a crime for the children of the elite. When she goes into a drug-induced coma you can simply dump her body in the ocean and the police will just pretend to do an investigation.
Sorry to dissapoint you Politico1, tourism indeed did decline in 2006 with only 6%, but it was not because of any boycott but because there were 2 hotels closed for renovations, the RIU, the Occidental and hundreds of rooms of Hyatt, the Holiday and Manchebo Beach Resort were also closed down for upgrading. Aruba is one of the safest island in the Caribbean, the police has a 100% track record of solving crimes and murders. The NH case, is still an undergoing investigation in which the islans spent over $10 millions, with the help of the Interpol, the FBI, the DEA and Dutch investigators and interrogators.
Note from Denise: Attack the message if you want people to read your comments, not the writer.
Should we send our children to Jamaica instead?
You don’t SERIOUSLY think that Natalee was the only teen killed on a class trip and/or spring break?!! The incident itself is horrible, but having raised 3 kids to adulthood, I’m certainly aware of what “good kids” will do when given the opportunity. What kind of parent sends their young adult 1000 miles away to a hotel with an “all-you-can-drink” ticket at 18? HELLO?! After 5 days of drinking, she overinduldged. What happened is terrible. Joran is a horrible person. But the American legal system would have been far LESS involved. In no way would he have ever been held for 30 days- several times- without even physical evidence. Please remember that the people of Aruba are not “guilty” of this tragedy. It starts with responsible parenting, and there were NO chaperones- just adults “joining the trip”.
I don’t believe anyone is blaming the people of Aruba, but certainly, the authorities there bungled the investigation, if you can call it that. Yes, the fact that Joran Va deSloot’s father was a Judge-in-training and had some interesting political connections seems worth noting. I can’t understand why graduating teens need to take their senior trip to Aruba, of all places. At least, at home, in the US, we have our legal system, while not perfect, is the best in the world. How have these rites of passage: senior proms, senior banquets, senior trips, etc. gotten so elaborate, complicated, expensive and out of control?
there are sexual predators in every country. only on aruba, the predators are protected and the victim blamed. if the victims parents don’t “go home, shut up, and get over it” as natalee’s parents were told to do, then they are systematically accused of pedophilia, child abuse, and insurance scams (ask max devries’ mom about that one). the “jelly shot” lie was and remains an attempt to “blame the victim”. oduber, the prime minister of aruba just made the statement to dutch lawmakers that the holloway case has cost the island “tens of millions of dollars”. most of that loss was caused, not by natalee’s death itself, but by the actions and inactions of aruban govt., tourism, and law enforcement officials. if something happens to you on the happy island, you’re stuck with their laws and their ideas of what american tourist lives are worth, or not worth.
dennisintn
oh, and by the way, super bee. of the “thousands of workers” let off to search, only close to 200 actually show up to search. there are, of course, many thousands of good people on aruba, they’re just being led by buffoons, crooks, and incompetence that resembles a chinese fire drill. and in the 32 months natalee’s been missing, not one public announcement by govt. spokesmen didn’t either disputed another “official govt. announcement”, or was disputed itself, by the next “official govt. announcement” travel there at your own risk, and don’t say you weren’t warned.
dennisintn
I agree with Mary.
I visited Aruba just about a month after this happened. Locals were very upset and knew Van der Sloot was responsible but at the time there wasnt enough evidence to charge him. He was originally in Aruba for an internship in one of the resorts. He could have just as easily been in Panama City, Vail, Padre Island . . . This type of thing can happen ANYWHERE, ANY TIME!
Aruba has been, and still is, a very safe and friendly island. I have been visiting regularly for 20 years and have never felt threatened or uncomfortable.
The reality is that kids will be exposed to all kinds of choices. It doesnt take a senior trip for compromising situations. There are nuts around every corner.
Thank God for Patrick van der Eem.