My 16th year old wants to be a student ambassador!

You should be honored that your son has been chosen to go on this trip to Japan. With the advent of mobile phones these days he could only be phone call away. If there are local teachers that both you and your son are familiar with then I think you should let him go. Have you stopped to think that if you stop him he might hold a resentment towards you for the rest of his life. At the meeting find out all that you can and let the boy go.

Give your boy this chance of a life time. He deserves it. He has been chosen because of his studies and his character which both must be excellent. I can understand your feelings, yet dont stand in his way. He will never forgive you later on. Since his teachers are also going, ask them to keep an eye on him,. I am sure they will oblige. Good luck to your boy and congratulations.

Congratulations! You must be so proud. I can understand your concern about sending him away "with strangers". Being from Canada I don't know anything about this but I am guessing he will not be with strangers. He will get to know whoever he is travelling with before he leaves. As long as this isn't going to cost you money you don't have, I would think you would not want to disappoint your son by telling him he can't go. He may become very resentful. A chance like this only comes once in a lifetime and he will forever wonder "what if". I don't think you are being overprotective. I would feel the same way. Educate yourself and be as supportive as you can. Hopefully you can stay in daily contact via email while he is gone. This opportunity for him could open so many doors for him in the future. You should be very proud of him. My children have no ambitions outside of sports, which as females won't get them much, especially since we are broke with a capital B. I am sure you can trust your son and he will be well chaperoned. As long as this doesn't cost you money you can't afford, I would let him do it. Good luck!

Mirita,If you can afford it by all means send him.The kids are well looked after and you don't want him to miss this amazing opportunity. My son has been on the list since he was ten years old with the opportunity to tour Australia and a European tour the following year. I figure that by the time he is fourteen or fifteen we'll let him go as an ambassador where ever they have it going by that time. I really think that your son should be OK at sixteen years of age. Just think of how it'll look on his college resume if you allow him to go.

Oh wow! Yuo should definitely be proud of your son to be chosen!! That is awesome! My sister was chosen when she was 16 years old to represent Canada in Russia, this was back in 1989 Yup, not a good time to be in Russia days.... My mom almost passed out and then flatly refused. My grandfather who was a very ultra conservative Canadian back woods farmer piped up and said that My sister was going. She had a chance to see a new country and learn things. Let her go. It could be a once in a life time experience and he didn't want my sister to have regrets in life. You know the nasty should have would haves and what ifs... If your son is respectful of people cultures, intelligetn able to use his head and polite he will do well. He seems like he has a good head on his shoulders let him go mum, let him go. My sister went to Russia and had a blast. She still talks about it today even though she is now widely traveled. He will gain an amazing lasting experience and know that his mum loves and trusts him to be a good kid.

I think the feelings you are having are completly normal, I know i, If in the same situation would feel as you do, You are his mother and of course you are concerned and protective of him and 16 years old is still young, But i agree this is somewhat a once in a lifetime oppurtunity and being a honar studant he has worked so hard for this. I think you should learn as much about the program as you can so you are well informed, speak to him about your fears also, He may just understand, And trust, Trust him and trust that everything will be ok, only good things can come from such a wonderful oppurtnity for him.

let him..i was this to sweden at 15/16. it was a great experience..and i came away from it with my life richer.. the family he will be places with is looked over more then one time and is qualified..they dont just let him stay with anyone... :) this is a once in lifetime thing but a awesome experience in life.. please dont let ur son pass up on this..

I understand how you feel but it sounds like he is going to be looked after. You can't stop him going as he will always regret not going and you will feel guilty for stopping him. He is a young man but I know as a mother of 2 sons who are now 20 and 22 that you will still think of him as your little boy. This will be a fantastic experience for him, you must try to keep your fears to yourself as you want your son to be unafraid in life and not fearfull of trying new things. When he comes home he will be able to share this experience with you and you will be glad you supported him in letting him go with your blessing. Our job as parents is to allow our children to be independent and it sounds like you are doing a great job.

Yes, I think you are over protective, and so would I be in a situation like that. But imagine the opportunity it represents for him - he will get a ´real´education, his horizon will broaden, he will mature quicker, etc., etc. I fully understand your worries, they are natural, but sometimes it helps to de-personalize a subject like that. How would you have responded if you would have found a similar post?