Some people send their children abroad for educational trips.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing this?
In this essay, I will look at a few of the advantages and disadvantages of sending children
abroad on educational trips.
As far as I am concerned, there is one main disadvantage - cost. However, it may only
apply in certain circumstances. Most people find that going abroad for a short while is generally more expensive than staying at home. Accommodation is frequently expensive
and there is the obvious cost of travel. Other things, such as food, may be more expensive
depending on the destination. This might not be an issue for some people. For example, if
you live in Luxembourg and send your child on a trip to Germany or France, the cost may
not be that high. However, the expense of a trip to those countries by many children from
Russia may be prohibitive.
The main advantage of sending children on educational trips to foreign countries is that
they have the opportunity to broaden their horizons and see how people from other
countries live. Most people have a certain degree of pride in their own culture, but
relatively few people are so arrogant as not to recognise that other cultures have their
positive qualities too. At the very least, each country has something that other countries
do not have, such as an historic structure or cultural norm. Seeing and experiencing these
can (hopefully!) help to give children a sense of perspective about the world and their
place in it.
Personally, I believe that the advantages of sending children abroad outweigh the
financial cost. However, it is clearly impossible for all families to afford this, so such
trips generally need to be economical in order to be inclusive.